Where did those arms come from?
“U.S.-approved arms for Libyan rebels went to jihadis” — Jihad Watch, December 5, 2012
“UN Warns Libyan Weapons Spreading to Gaza, Syria,” by Chana Ya’ar for Israel National News, April 10 (thanks to Voice of the Copts):
A United Nations panel says weaponry from Libya is spreading across North Africa to Gaza and Syria “at an alarming rate.”
The five-expert committee said in a 94-page report sent Tuesday to the U.N. Security Council that illegal transfers of arms from Libya to armed groups and terrorists have been proven.
The arms trafficking violations involved more than 12 countries and included light and heavy ordnance, such as portable air defense systems, mines, explosive materials, ammunition and small arms.
The panel made 28 visits to 15 nations in the Middle East, Africa and Europe. Ten of those visits were within Libya alone, The Washington Post reported.
“Libya has over the past two years become a significant and attractive source of weaponry in the region,” since the fall of 41-year Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011,” the report said. “The lack of an effective security system remains one of the primary obstacles to securing military materiel and controlling the borders.”
Last November, Cairo blocked two arms shipments to Gaza from Libya, with security forces arresting smugglers as they intercepted a large weapons shipment headed for Sinai from Libya. The move followed the ceasefire agreement that ended Operation Pillar of Defense against Gaza terrorist rocket fire on southern Israel.
The areas into which Libyan arms have flowed included West Africa, the Levant “and potentially even the Horn of Africa,” the report noted. “Illicit flows from the country are fueling existing conflicts in Africa and the Levant and enriching the arsenals of a range of non-state actors, including terrorist groups.”…