Abdel Wahab Mohamed Qaid (), alias Abu Idris al-Libi is a Libyan politician and former militia leader. Since 2012, he has been a member of the Libyan Parliament ( General National Congress) and the head of the National Border Guard for southern Libya. He was described as one of the most senior members of the

Libyan Islamic Fighting Group The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), also known as ''Al-Jama'a al-Islamiyyah al-Muqatilah bi-Libya'' ( ar, الجماعة الإسلامية المقاتلة بليبيا), was an armed Islamist group. Militants participated in the 2011 Liby ...

that fought against the rule of

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

. He was one of the last members of LIFG to be released from prison (on February 16, 2011) as part of the reconciliation program headed by the leader's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. He is the elder brother of

Abu Yahya al-Libi Abu Yahya al-Libi ( ar, أبو يحيى الليبي, ; January 1, 1963, Marzaq – June 4, 2012), born Mohamed Hassan Qaid, was a terrorist and leading high-ranking official within al-Qaeda, and an alleged member of the Libyan Islamic F ...

, former number 2 in

al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

, who was killed in a US drone strike in June 2012. After the Libyan Civil War of 2011 that led to the deposition of Gaddafi, he was elected to the General National Congress as an independent, representing a constituency in Southern Libya. After the parliament was constituted, he founded the al-Wafa Bloc (full name: ''al-Wafa li dimaa Al-Shuhadaa'', "Remaining Faithful to the Blood of the Martyrs"), made up of former anti-Gaddafi militia fighters. He advocates a rigorous exclusion of representatives of the disempowered Gaddafi regime from public offices ("Political Exclusion Law"). He chairs the parliamentary Committee for National Security. Qaid was considered a main contender for the office of President of the General National Congress after the first President

Mohammed Magariaf Mohammed Yousef el-Magariaf (also written as Magariaf, Elmegaryaf or Almegaryaf) or, as he writes on his official website, Dr. Mohamed Yusuf Al Magariaf ( ar, محمد يوسف المقريف; born 1940), is a Libyan politician who served as the P ...

retired from this office due to the exclusion law in May 2013. Unlike all other groups, the al-Wafa Bloc opposed a women's quota in the Constitutional Assembly elected in February 2014. In October 2013, Russian media reported that Bassem al-Hashemi Sol, spokesman of a "Libyan Tribal association", accused Qaid of being a high-ranking al-Qaeda member.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qaid, Abdel Wahab Living people Year of birth uncertain Al-Arab Medical University alumni 1960s births Libyan politicians

Further reading

References