I fought in Libya: Please don't call us terrorists

[TomSea]

Excerpt:

I fought in Libya: Please don't call us terrorists
Belal Younis  Friday 26 May 2017 21:04 UTC

...

In 1980 Gaddafi introduced a policy of extrajudicial executions of political opponents whom he called "stray dogs," and according to Human Rights Watch in 1996 more than 1,000 prisoners were shot dead in cold blood by security forces in a span of two days.

And then, when on 15 February 2011, a group of locals turned out for a peaceful demonstration, and received bullets in return, we knew that we had no choice but to fight.

Far from targeting innocent people as we saw in Manchester, I was defending a civilian population against an army. It's wrong to assume that the two were linked. In fact they could not be more different: defending the innocent is noble; mass murder of children and women is one of the most despicable acts a human can do.

Libyans are being killed by the Islamic State (IS) group, which has gained a foothold in the country. I had friends who were killed by IS militants.

You cannot compare IS's aims to ours. They're fighting for chaos - we fought for peace. 

I personally cannot see how Salman Abedi could have fought in Libya given the battalion that I was a part of would not dare to have someone who was just 16 years old on the frontlines.

Even so, those who did participate in the revolution, people from all walks of life such as doctors, teachers, lawyers, peacefully came back to the UK and returned to business as usual.

Abedi was definitely the exception and not the rule. British Libyans care deeply about both Britain and Libya. Many of us are still supporting the revolution from right here in Britain, including trying to unite the country by the creation of civil society organisations to negotiate peace treaties and ceasefires.

Continued: http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/i-fought-libya-please-don-t-call-us-terrorists-1844009812