Libya magnet for militants from Tunisia and beyond

(MENAFN- Arab News) TUNIS: Lawless Libya has become a magnet for radical militants who receive weapons training in militant camps before launching deadly attacks in other countries like last week's beach massacre in Tunisia.
The oil-rich North African country bordering Tunisia has rival governments and parliaments as well as a slew of armed groups vying for power in the aftermath of its 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
The chaos in Libya has 'serious security implications for the region' said Michael Nayebi-Oskoui senior Middle East analyst at Stratfor a global intelligence and advisory firm based in the US city of Texas.
Libya has witnessed 'a small but steady return of fighters' from the conflict in Syria he said.
Tunis says 3000 of its citizens are fighting alongside militant groups in Syria Iraq and Libya and that 500 battle-hardened veterans have returned home where they pose a security threat.
On June 26 a student armed with an assault rifle mowed down 38 tourists at Tunisia's popular Port el Kantaoui beach resort the second deadly attack on holidaymakers in three months in Tunisia.
Authorities identified the gunman as 23-year-old Tunisian student Seifeddine Rezgui and said he had received weapons training from militants in Libya.
He was said to have been in Libya at the same time as the two gunmen who in March attacked the National Bardo Museum in Tunis killing 21 tourists and a policeman.
'It is confirmed that he went to Libya illegally. He was trained in Sabratha' west of Tripoli said Tunisia's secretary of state for security Rafik Chelli.
He said the Bardo assailants were out of Tunisia at the same time and had trained with Ansar Al-Sharia an Al-Qaeda-linked group classified as a terrorist organization by Washington and the UN.
Sabratha where Tunisian authorities say Rezgui received weapons training before going on the killing spree on a beach lies 60 kilometers (35 miles) west of Tripoli.
The coastal town is also only 100 kilometers from Ras Jdir the main border crossing between Libya and Tunisia.
'Sabratha is on the edge of a region that straddles the Libya-Tunisian border known as 'Jefara.' The region is characterised by a network of formerly nomadic tribes which have made a living out of trafficking and smuggling' said Philip Stack of global risk analysts Verisk Maplecroft.
'The description of Sabratha as a 'training camp' does not necessarily mean it's military in nature. There is a good chance that its main focus is centered on radicalization' said Stack an expert on Middle East and North African affairs.
Sabratha falls under the jurisdiction of the powerful Fajr Libya militia alliance which last year seized Tripoli setting up a government and parliament opposed to the internationally-recognized administration.
Security officials in Tripoli say hundreds of foreign fighters including Tunisians returning from Syria and Iraq have entered Libya in recent months taking advantage of the breakdown in security.