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Call what in the world. with all the allegations of al qaeda s involvement of the libyan rebels we thought we would try separate fact from fiction. who better to speak with than a libyan former associate of osama bin laden. benotman used to be a jihadist, a leader of t eleader. now with the think tank, quilliam foundation and joins us from london. noman, welcome. thank you. let me ask you very simply. you know these people who are involved in the libyan affiliate of al qaeda. does it strike you that the rebellion against moammar gadhafi, that the opposition leaders in benghazi, are they al qaeda, al qaeda affiliated or associated in any way? looks, zakaria, any claims like this, it s a faceless ....
Understanding of islam. reporter: benotman s risk would leave him vulnerable to attack. but after 2 1/2 years, it paid off. more than a simple peace agreement, the libyan jihadists issued their manifesto. more than 400 pages of complex religious arguments that challenge, point by point, the very justifications al qaeda uses to recruit young men to violence. translator: i have over 20 years experience in the libyan islamic fighting group. reporter: this prisoner, tariq durman, was picked up in jordan, where he was a commander running a cell. he d previously fought in afghanistan. hid out in suzanne sedan sudan yemen. reporter: we came to the conclusion that fighting skprinls was not the way forward. to start with, he book withed at sharia law, and there is no evidence in the koran or in the ....
Internal security note paper. some details are still too sensitive to tell, benotman says, so he blacked them out. there were a lot of obstacles and problems and oh, my god, you wouldn t believe it. reporter: nine months into the negotiations, al qaeda s leadership is so worried, they tried to derail the peace process, posting this al qaeda video on the internet. translator: we announce a great step forwards toward a holy victory. a group of jihadist from the islamist fighting group in libya are integrating with al qaeda. reporter: it wasn t true, but benotman saw the danger in this propaganda and risked his own safety by sending an open, defiant letter to al qaeda s leaders. i questioned their idea of jihad, directly, you know. this is crazy, it s not islamic, it s against the sunni ....
Leadership is so worried, they tried to derail the peace process, posting this al qaeda video on the internet. translator: we announce a great step forward toward a holy victory. a group of jihadist from the islamist fighting group in libya are integrating with al qaeda. reporter: it wasn t true, but benotman saw the danger in this propaganda and risked his own safety by sending an open, defiant letter to al qaeda s leaders. i questioned their idea of jihad, directly, you know. this is crazy, it s not islamic, it s against the sunni understanding of islam. reporter: benotman s risk would leave him vulnerable to attack. but after 2 1/2 years, it paid off. more than a simple peace agreement, the libyan jihadists issued their manifesto. more than 400 pages of complex religious arguments that ....
And morality, because it s for the sake of allah. this means that killing of women, children, old people, christian priests and businessmen is wrong. translator: this code will be of interest to everybody in the islamic world. we are an experiment, of course, but we hope what we have done could be duplicated all over the muslim world. reporter: the impact of the code is already being felt. cnn has learned that the british security service, mi-5 is handing it out to radical islamists in britain and a group will use it to combat extremism in the united states. sayfall islam wants the message of peace to spread wherever al qaida gets recruits. africa, the middle east, even the united states. and that s where benotman is heading. ....