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6 - Libya

Fratricide in Derna

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 October 2020

Alexander Thurston
Affiliation:
University of Cincinnati
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Summary

This chapter analyzes how jurisprudence has supplied the language of dispute between rival jihadist factions in Libya. The chapter focuses on the northeastern coastal city of Derna, where al-Qada in the Islamic Maghreb's (AQIM’s) loose allies battled an Islamic State affiliate in 2014–2015. In Derna, jihadists first attempted to settle their differences through legal procedures, but soon had recourse to violence against one another. The case of Derna vividly exemplifies how jihadist jurisprudence attempts to grapple with rapidly shifting contexts and to provide and assess ex-post facto justifications for field commanders’ improvised decisions. Fiqh, moreover, can sometimes sharpen rather than resolve disputes, particularly when it is weaponized by hardliners against internal rivals. The chapter argues that intra-jihadist rifts in Libya reveal wider dynamics about the limits of competing strategies for jihadist coalition-building: more pragmatic strategies can alienate hardliners, but hardliners alienate civilians.Jihadists’ inability to sustain a cohesive coalition left them vulnerable to stronger factions within a multi-party civil war.

Type
Chapter
Information
Jihadists of North Africa and the Sahel
Local Politics and Rebel Groups
, pp. 233 - 263
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Libya
  • Alexander Thurston, University of Cincinnati
  • Book: Jihadists of North Africa and the Sahel
  • Online publication: 15 October 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108771160.007
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Libya
  • Alexander Thurston, University of Cincinnati
  • Book: Jihadists of North Africa and the Sahel
  • Online publication: 15 October 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108771160.007
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Libya
  • Alexander Thurston, University of Cincinnati
  • Book: Jihadists of North Africa and the Sahel
  • Online publication: 15 October 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108771160.007
Available formats
×