The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) is the most powerful radical faction waging holy war against Colonel Moammar al-Qadhafi. It aims to establish an Islamic state in Libya and views the current regime as oppressive, corrupt and anti-Muslim, according to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi Muammar Abu Minyar al-Qaddafi 1 (Arabic: معمر القذافي Mu`ammar al-Qadhdhāfī) (born 1942), leader of Libya since 1970 and a controversial Arab statesman. ... Islam ( Arabic al-islām الإسلام, listen?) the submission to God is a monotheistic faith and the worlds second-largest religion. ... . The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) was founded by an act of the Canadian Parliament, Bill C-9, an Act to Establish the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to be a replacement for the floundering RCMP Security Service. ...
On October 10, 2005, Great Britain's Home Office banned LIFG and fourteen other terrorist groups from operating in the United Kingdom. Under Britains' Terrorism Act 2000, being a member of a LIFG is punished by a 10-year prison term. The Terrorism Act 2000 is a current United Kingdom Act of Parliament - An Act to make provision about terrorism; and to make temporary provision for Northern Ireland about the prosecution and punishment of certain offences, the preservation of peace and the maintenance of order. ...
LIFG's next big operation, a failed attempt to assassinate Qadhafi in February 1996 that killed several of his bodyguards, was later said to have been financed by British intelligence to the tune of $160,000, according to ex-M15 officer David Shayler.
Although LIFG forces were decimated, the security forces also suffered heavy losses, while the heavy traffic of air force jets to and from the front (easily perceptible to foreign diplomats in Tripoli) made it impossible for Qadhafi to credibly deny that he was facing a major revolt.
In a 1999 interview, LIFG spokesman Omar Rashed lamented that the Libyan people had not "passed beyond the stage of sentiments to the stage of action," and hinted at a shift in focus, as bin Laden had done, from regime change at home to international jihad.
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