Country Reports on Terrorism 2012

Funding and External Aid: The LTTE used its international contacts and the large Tamil
diaspora in North America, Europe, and Asia to procure weapons, communications, funding, and
other needed supplies. The group employed charities as fronts to collect and divert funds for their
activities.
aka LIFG
LIBYAN ISLAMIC FIGHTING GROUP
Description: The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) was designated as a Foreign Terrorist
Organization on December 17, 2004. In the early 1990s, LIFG emerged from the group of
Libyans who had fought Soviet forces in Afghanistan and pledged to overthrow Libyan leader
Muammar al-Qadhafi. In the years following, some members maintained an anti-Qadhafi focus
and targeted Libyan government interests. Others, such as Abu al-Faraj al-Libi, who was arrested
in Pakistan in 2005, aligned with Usama bin Laden and are believed to be part of the al-Qa’ida
(AQ) leadership structure. On November 3, 2007, AQ leader Ayman al-Zawahiri announced a
formal merger between AQ and LIFG. However, on July 3, 2009, LIFG members in the UK
released a statement formally disavowing any association with AQ. In September 2009, six
imprisoned LIFG members issued a 417 page document that renounced violence. More than 100
LIFG members pledged to adhere to this revised doctrine and have been pardoned and released
from prison in Libya since September 2009.
Activities: LIFG has been largely inactive operationally in Libya since the late 1990s when
members fled predominately to Europe and the Middle East because of tightened Libyan security
measures. In early 2011, in the wake of the Libyan revolution and the fall of Qadhafi, LIFG
members created the LIFG successor group, the Libyan Islamic Movement for Change (LIMC),
and became one of many rebel groups united under the umbrella of the opposition leadership
known as the Transitional National Council. Former LIFG emir and LIMC leader Abdel Hakim
Bil-Hajj was appointed the Libyan Transitional Council’s Tripoli military commander during the
Libyan uprisings, and has denied any link between his group and AQ. There were no known
attacks carried out by LIFG in 2012.
Strength: Unknown
Location/Area of Operation: Since the late 1990s, many members have fled to southwest Asia,
and European countries, particularly the UK.
Funding and External Aid: Unknown
MOROCCAN ISLAMIC COMBATANT GROUP
aka Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain; GICM
Description: Designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on October 11, 2005, the Moroccan
Islamic Combatant Group (GICM) is a transnational terrorist group centered in the Moroccan
diaspora communities of Western Europe. Its goals include establishing an Islamic state in
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