3 Libya Militants Say No To Isıl, Flee To Algeria

Three members of a Libyan militant group had given themselves up to the Algerian army, fleeing their country after they had refused to swear an oath of allegiance to the leader of the militant movement Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), an Algerian security source said Sunday.



"The three members used to belong to the Abu Selim Martyrs' Brigades," the source told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity.



"They gave themselves up to the Algerian army," he added, noting that the three militants had also handed their weapons to Algerian troops after they arrived in Algeria from a land crossing point between Libya and Algeria.



The security source said the three militants included a senior leader called Abu al-Baraa, who was sentenced to death by the brigades a short time ago, because he refused to pledge himself to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIL, which overrun major territories in Iraq and Syria and seeks to expand its influence in other countries.



The militants went to Algeria after they found it difficult to fee to either Egypt, on Libya's eastern border, or Tunisia, on the restive country's northwestern border, according to the source.



He said the three militants were in the custody of Algerian authorities.



No comment has been made about the three militants by either Libyan or Algerian authorities. The Abu Selim Martyrs' Brigades has not commented on the escape of its three members either.



The members of the brigades recently regrouped after it was dissolved by former leader Salem Derbi following the ouster of late Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi.



The brigades have not joined the Libyan army, unlike many armed groups that fought against Gaddafi's forces.



By Ahmed Aziz



englishnews@aa.com.tr



www.aa.com.tr/en - Alger