Libyan army liquidates Misrata’s billionaire Brotherhood financier and blood broker

Nora Bandari

In a deadly blow to terrorist militias in Libya, the Muslim Brotherhood, and also Turkey, the director of the Moral Motivation Department of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Khaled al-Mahjoub, confirmed on Monday, September 30 the liquidation of prominent leader Hisham Emsimir, the main financier of the Brotherhood in Libya and the Government of National Accord (GNA) forces and the hidden ruler of the city of Misrata.

Blow to terrorist militias

In press statements, Mahjoub confirmed news of Emsimir’s liquidation by the Ninth Brigade during an exchange of fire between the cities of Tarhuna and Misrata on Sunday, September 29. He added that Emsimir’s death was the biggest blow received by Misrata militias since 2011 because of his prominent role in funding battles and bringing arms and militants from Turkey and elsewhere to Libya.

Not only that, but Mahjoub announced that Emsimir was a billionaire who ruled the city of Misrata behind the scenes and had a strong influence within it, and he was the most prominent hidden member of the Brotherhood operating behind the shadows, as he did not appear in the media or on the battlefields. In addition, he was the main financier of the Islamist-led Libya Dawn war of 2014, as well as the ongoing war in Tripoli, and he was a strong supporter of the GNA forces, having provided money and weapons.

Turkey’s broker

In addition to the fact that the Libyan leader was the mediator between Turkey and Misrata, he was also responsible for concluding arms deals with Ankara and was behind all arms shipments to have reached the GNA’s armed militias. According to Mahjoub, Emsimir is believed to have been a recruiter for intelligence Turkish, as there are suspicions hovering about its finances and rapid accumulation of wealth.

Recently, the LNA had made some accusations against Emsimir, including supporting the so-called Benghazi Shura Council and the Derna Mujahideen Shura Council to fight LNA forces during the battle to liberate the cities of Benghazi and Derna from terrorists.

According to a 2018 UN report, Emsimir supplied weapons and ammunition to groups that attacked Mitiga airport in January last year, resulting in the suspension of air traffic, material losses and the injury of civilians. He was also wanted by the public prosecutor for indiscriminate shelling of several areas in Tripoli.

The LNA’s media operations center said in a statement on September 29 that Emsimir had attempted to entice young people from Tarhuna and bribe them to assassinate the Libyan General Mohammed al-Kani for 10 million dinars.

Undermining the militias

Hisham al-Najjar, a researcher specializing in Islamist movements, said that the LNA is focusing on targeting the pillars of foreign forces supporting armed militias, such as the Turkish forces, as well as hunting down the leading elements of the militias that support them.

Najjar said that this path would undermine the strengths of the militias, which mainly benefit from the support of well-trained Turkish forces and the presence of highly-trained takfirist militant leaders. By targeting these elements, the militias lose the most important part of their influence and presence on the ground, and their fall and collapse becomes easy and affordable in the foreseeable future, he added.

Turkey recently went to war to support the terrorist militias in Libya, Najjar said, pointing out that one of the reasons for its direct military intervention is to protect the militia leaders and keep them at the forefront of the confrontation, because their fall and elimination will destroy the militias and hasten their collapse. That is why Turkey will work to compensate by propping up alternative leadership and desperately protecting the remaining leaders who represent it in the Libyan conflict.