Libya’s diverse rebel forces

Leila Fadel

One is a scruffy rabble-rouser, the other is a clean-shaven Islamist, but they are united in their fight against Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi. 

One is a scruffy rabble-rouser who has a reputation for hard drinking; the other a clean-shaven, green-eyed Islamist who has fought before in the name of his religion, carrying out attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq.

Neither fits neatly into the profile of drug-addled al-Qaeda devotees that Col. Moammar Gaddafi has used to denigrate the rebel force seeking to oust him from power after 41 years.

Instead, the men reflect the wide array of perspectives and backgrounds present among those who in recent weeks have captured control of half of Libya, and are desperately seeking to win the rest. 

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