Al-Qaeda Rising in Libya?

James Carafano / May 20, 2011

The Arab Spring may be becoming a long hot summer.

In the President’s major speech on the Middle East yesterday, it seemed pretty clear that he has moved on from Libya and turned his attention back to the Arab–Israeli peace process. Attention deficit disorder, however, may not be the right answer.

There is a disturbing news report that two men arrested in Tunisia were “suspected of being members of al-Qaeda.” They were picked up near the Libyan border “carrying an explosives belt and several bombs, a security source told Reuters.… The men were carrying Afghan identity papers and were of Libyan and Algerian origin, the source said, adding that they were also connected to two men arrested in Tunisia last week.… The North African country, which is an important destination for Libyan migrants fleeing the conflict, has tightened security along its border with Libya.” If these men turn out to be part of concerted effort to inject al-Qaeda into the Libyan civil war, then that is a sign that things are going to get a lot worse before there is any hope that they get better. (more…)