Sheikh Nadir Al-Omrani — a senior member of the Dar Al-Ifta and vice president of the Arab Maghreb Scholars Association — was kidnapped in early October following early morning prayers in Tripoli. He had been an outspoken opponent of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, and a proponent of Islam as a unifying tool for Libya. Despite notable outrage at the time of his kidnapping, there was little that the weak law enforcement agencies or the Presidency Council could do to investigate and apprehend the perpetrators. On 21 November he was reportedly executed by his captors although his body has not yet been released.

Grand Mufti Sadiq al-Ghariani announced on 23 November that he believed followers of the Saudi cleric Rabee al-Madkhali were behind the execution. So far one Madkhali follower has reportedly confessed to involvement. Madkhali followers participated in the battle against Islamic State (IS) in Sirte as members of the 604th Brigade, and have been aligned with Abdulraouf Kara — the anti al-Ghariani Tripoli-based Salafist militia leader — and his Special Deterrence Force since 2015. Madkhali himself has called on his followers to confront Ghariani. The latter has separately accused Madkhali followers of betraying Islam by aligning with Haftar.

This is an excerpt from an article in our monthly Libya Focus publication.