Even before the Islamic State (ISIS) attained notoriety for spreading terror worldwide, former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi had already predicted the rise of extremism before his ouster and eventual death, according to newly released phone transcripts.
Transcripts of calls made in 2011 indicate that Gaddafi issued the prophetic alert to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, warning that Europe would be hit with terror attacks and that the extremists would use his departure to start a war in the Mediterranean.
"[Jihadists] want to control the Mediterranean and then they will attack Europe," Gaddafi told Blair, British media reported.
A British foreign affairs committee is currently looking into the Gaddafi ouster, including the two transcripts of phone conversation between Gaddafi and Blair that reportedly took place on Feb. 25, 2011. The former Libyan leader fled the capital city of Tripoli that summer, and rebels killed him in October.
In the first call in the morning, Gaddafi informed Blair about the al-Qaeda terrorist cells in North Africa. "The story is simply this: an organisation has laid down sleeping cells in North Africa. Called the al-Qaeda organisation in North Africa... the sleeping cells in Libya are similar to dormant cells in America before 9/11.
"I will have to arm the people and get ready for a fight. Libyan people will die, damage will be on the Med, Europe and the whole world. These armed groups are using the situation [in Libya] as a justification—and we shall fight them,'' he said in the second call, a few hours later.
On both calls, Blair reportedly pleaded to Gaddafi to stand aside or end the violence. He also assured to engineer a peaceful exit for Gaddafi if he agreed to leave, but the latter insisted there was no fighting or bloodshed in Libya.
Three weeks after the calls, a NATO-led coalition that included Britain started bombing raids that led to the overthrow of Gaddafi. He was finally deposed in August and murdered by opponents of his regime in October, according to the Guardian.
Analysts say al-Qaeda splinter groups did seize territory in Libya after rebels ousted and killed Gaddafi. Islamic jihadis in Iraq and Syria merged to form what would be known as the Islamic State terror group by 2013, and eventually moved to capture land in North Africa as well, Fox News reported.
"The failure to follow Mr. Blair's calls to 'keep the lines open' for these early conversations to initiate any peaceful compromise continue to reverberate,'' said Foreign Select Committee chair Crispin Blunt.
He said the committee will want to consider whether Gaddafi's prophetic warning of the rise of extremist militant groups was wrongly ignored because of his otherwise delusional take on international affairs. "The evidence that the committee has taken so far in this inquiry suggests that Western policymakers were rather less perceptive than Gaddafi about the risks of intervention for both the Libyan people and the Western interest.''
