2/18/2015, "ISIS Threatens to Send 500,000 Migrants to Europe as a 'Psychological Weapon' in Chilling Echo of Gaddafi's Prophecy that the Mediterranean 'Will Become a Sea of Chaos'," UK Daily Mail, Hannah Roberts In Rome, Mailonline
"ISIS has threatened to flood Europe with half a million migrants from Libya in a 'psychological' attack against the West, it was claimed today.
Transcripts
of telephone intercepts published in Italy claim to provide evidence
that ISIS is threatening to send 500,000 migrants simultaneously out to
sea in hundreds of boats in a 'psychological weapon' against Europe if
there is military intervention against them in Libya.
Many
would be at risk of drowning with rescue services unable to cope. But
authorities fear that if numbers on this scale arrived, European cities
could witness riots.
Separately,
the militants hope to cement their control of Libya then cross the
Mediterranean disguised as refugees, according to letters seen by
Quilliam the anti-terror group, reported by the Telegraph.
Italian
Minister for the Interior Angelino Alfano said on Monday that Libya was
the 'absolute priority' and insisted there was 'not a minute to lose'
for the international community.
He
said: 'If the militias of the Caliphate advance faster than the
decisions of the international community how can we put out the fire in
Libya and stem the migration flows? We are at risk of an exodus without
precedent.' More than 170,000 migrants arrived in Italy by boat last year. Since last Friday almost 4,000 have been rescued.
The
spread of militancy across Libya was predicted by the country's
deceased leader Muammar Gaddafi, who warned the Mediterranean would
become 'a sea of chaos'.
That very sea ran red with blood when Islamic State brutally executed 21 Egyptian Christians on its shores.
The
accompanying video, released on Sunday, showed the men dressed in
orange jumpsuits and shackled - kneeling in the sand before the
militants slit their throats and watched them bleed to death.
Egypt retaliated furiously by launching coordinated airstrikes on ISIS targets in Libya.
The European powers were putting their own security at risk by helping the rebels, Gaddafi pointed out.
He told Il Giornale,
the Italian newspaper owned by his former friend Silvio Berlusconi he
was saddened by the attitude of his friend. They no longer spoke.
'I
am shocked at the attitude of my European friends. They have endangered
and damaged a series of great security treaties in their own interest.'
Without his harsh, but effective, regime, the entire North African Mahgreb 'would become another Gaza,' he claimed.
The telephone transcripts, seen by Il Messaggero
newspaper claimed to provide evidence 'that IS will use the migrants as
a "psychological weapon" against countries that say they want to
intervene in Libya, in particular, against Italy.'
'As
soon as our country mentioned armed intervention on Libya the jihadists
suggested they let drift, bound for Italy, hundreds of boats full of
migrants. The figure discussed is five hundred thousand, most of the
700,000 that are on the coast waiting to board,' the newspaper
reported.
Following
the dire threat Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi immediately
backtracked from his government's previous rhetoric saying that 'it was
not the time for military intervention'.
Foreign
Minister Paolo Gentiloni said this morning that Italy does not want to
embark on 'adventures, never mind Crusades' in Libya. But
former President Giorgio Napolitano said that the 'biggest error' in
the post-Gaddafi's period was the European Unions 'lack of involvement'
in the country.
Meanwhile
following direct threats on Rome, the commander of Vatican City's
110-man Swiss Guard said his forces are ready to defend Pope Francis if
ISIS attempt a strike .
Colonel Christoph Graf said 'Following
the terrorists' threats, we're asking the guards to be more attentive
and observe peoples' movements closely. If something happens we're
ready, as are the men of the Gendarmerie.'"
Image caption: "Breaking point: The officials at Lampedusa airport (Italy) (pictured) are
struggling to process the 1,200 newly arrived migrants in a reception
centre built for a third of that number - and now Islamic State has
threatened to send 500,000 to Europe's shores,'" AFP Getty
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