James Clapper: Libya a ‘magnet’ for terrorism

The Washington Times:

The U.S. spy chief says the intelligence community has cast a wary eye on “troublesome” Libya and may work hand-in-hand with

France to track terrorists who are strengthening their grip in the region.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said told the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday that Libya is the most worrisome of all the countries in the greater Middle East region due to an ongoing rivalry between the country’s parliament and the Islamist-dominated General National Congress.
Libya plummeted in to chaos after rebels and militia members overthrew political leader Moammar Gadahafi in 2011 and dismantled the elected government in Tripoli in 2014. Now, the Islamic State of the Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, is capitalizing on that chaos and attracting new supporters in the region.
“There are, in addition to ISIL, probably six or eight other terrorist groups that have gathered in Libya,” he said. “So it’s a magnet because, essentially, it’s ungoverned.”
Mr. Clapper suggested the intelligence community either send spy planes to Libya or partner up with France, which already has spy planes in the area. That way, officials can keep better track of the turmoil in the country, Mr. Clapper said. Those airplanes collect intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data that help determine how many Islamic extremists occupy the country and what sort of threat they pose to the United States and its allies.
“From an intelligence perspective, I think clearly we need to step up our game – from an ISR perspective – where we can operate,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of merit to partnering with the French who have sort of staked out their claim in the Sahel region of North Africa.”
France has been present in the region for years and remains committed to deploying ground troops in the area, Mr. Clapper said. He suggested that it could be prudent for the United States to supplement those those ground troops with U.S. security forces to “get a better handle on what’s going on in that part of the world.”
The Islamic State has recently begun eying Libya as a fertile environment for building support and recruiting new members. In February, the terror group made public a video of Libyan fighters beheading 21 Egyptian Christians. Those Egyptians were kidnapped after they migrated to the country to find work.