Mahdi al-Harati (born c. 1973) is an Irish-Libyan politician and former co-commander of the

Tripoli Brigade The Tripoli Revolutionaries Brigade or Free Tripoli Guardian was a unit of the National Liberation Army of Libya created during the Libyan Civil War that merged into the Tripoli Protection Force. Originally formed in April 2011 in the opposition ...

during the Libyan Civil War. He was also the commander of

Liwaa Al-Umma Liwaa al-Umma ( ar, لواء الامة ''Liwāʼ al-Ummah'', meaning "Liwa (Arabic), Banner of the Ummah, Nation") was a Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist group fighting against the Syrian government in the Syrian Civil War. The group was founded ...

, a militant group fighting against the

Syrian government Government of the Syrian Arab Republic is the union government created by the constitution of Syria where by the president is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Syr ...

in the Syrian civil war. Before the Libyan civil war he was an Arabic teacher in Dublin, where he lived with his Irish-born wife and family. He was described by '' Volkskrant'', a Dutch daily newspaper, as being a face of the Battle of Tripoli and one of the most important rebel commanders of the Libyan civil war. The ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'', a British newspaper, offered a first-hand account of Al-Mahdi's advance on Tripoli and his men's assault on Gaddafi's former residence,

Bab Al-Azizia Bab al-Azizia (, , ) is a military barracks and compound situated in the southern suburbs of Tripoli, the capital of Libya. It served as the main base for the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi until its capture by anti-Gaddafi forces on 23 August 20 ...

. He was appointed second in command of the newly formed Tripoli Military Council. On 11 October 2011, Al-Harati resigned as deputy head of the Tripoli Military Council, amid tensions over security in the capital. According to the '' Irish Times'', while Al-Harati's associates in Tripoli assured that the resignation was for "personal reasons", a senior NTC official quoted by CNN said that the resignation was because of "differences with the National Transitional Council on the planning of the security of Tripoli". Fathi Al-Wersali, a member of the Tripoli Military Council, stated that Al-Harati would continue as commander of the Tripoli brigade. Following his involvement in the Libyan civil war al-Harati went on a fact-finding mission to Syria where, following discussions with members of the Syrian opposition, he decided to form the militant group

. After six months leading Liwaa Al-Umma, Al-Harati left the brigade in September 2012 and handed over its command to the

Free Syrian Army The Free Syrian Army (FSA) ( ar, الجيش السوري الحر, al-jaysh as-Sūrī al-ḥur) is a loose faction in the Syrian Civil War founded on 29 July 2011 by officers of the Syrian Armed Forces with the goal of bringing down the governm ...

. In 2014, Al-Harati was elected mayor of Libya's capital city of

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in t ...

. On 27 February 2017, Al-Harati was the victim of a sectarian attack in which he was arrested in Malta along with two men who attacked him.

Accusations of Terrorism related Activity

Al Harati was placed on a ban list by, UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and other countries for links to supporting Terrorism and Al Nusra front in Syria and for Terrorism related activities with Links to Qatari sponsorship. The ban list ensued the

2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis The Qatar diplomatic crisis was a diplomatic incident in the Middle East that began on 5 June 2017 when Foreign relations of Saudi Arabia#Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Qatar–United Arab Emirates relations, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain–Qatar relat ...

which a number of nations cut ties with Qatar for its alleged "financial support of international terrorism".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harati, Mahdi al- Living people Libyan colonels National Liberation Army (Libya) Irish Sunnis Year of birth uncertain Date of birth missing (living people) People of the First Libyan Civil War People of the Syrian civil war Year of birth missing (living people)