Special to WorldTribune.com
Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) has in its possession a portion of former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi’s arsenal of chemical weapons, according to a former Libyan intelligence official.
Ahmad Qadhaf Al-Dam, a cousin of Gadhafi, made the claim in an interview with the Egyptian Dream TV network on Jan. 18. His comments were translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
“You said that ISIL has gained control of poisonous gases, such as the lethal sarin gas. Where did you get that information from?” the interviewer asked Al-Dam.
“It is no secret that these gases exist in Libya,” Al-Dam replied. “To be fair, ISIL is not the only one. Everyone has poisonous gases. It’s not only in Libya. Everybody knows this. The Western countries know this. They have spies [in Libya]. They are the ones who attacked Libya, and then left these dangerous weapons there.”
The chemical weapons now said to be in ISIL’s possession “were held by the armed forces, and were hidden in bases with which nobody was familiar, deep in the desert,” Al-Dam said. The weapons “were smuggled out of Libya, as the world knows. I believe that the weapons that reached Syria originated in Libya.”
“The weapons that Bashar Assad was falsely accused of using came from Libya. This is well known,” Al-Dam said. “A Turkish opposition member talked about this in detail, giving names and presenting data. Western sources know the names of those who transferred the weapons from Libya, and know where the weapons went, how they entered [Syria], and what use they were put to. It was a big scandal.”
It was confirmed that Gadhafi’s regime had stockpiled some ten tons of mustard gas and that Iran had supplied the regime with hundreds of special artillery shells for chemical weapons that Libya kept secret for decades.