ALFA has no secrets- 5.17.2006

ALFA Has No Secrets   The American Libyan Freedom Alliance (ALFA) is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization (NGO) that is registered as an American advocacy group, dedicated to advancing the cause of democracy and the protection of human rights in Libya.  Among ALFA's objectives, which are clearly stated on its website ( http://www.alfa-online.net/Objectives.htm ) are "promoting democracy, human rights, accountability, and the rule of law, in Libya" and "to inform the American public and the international community about Libyan history, culture, concerns and aspirations".  ALFA is not a religious sect, a political party, a liberation front, nor an armed resistance movement. Therefore, ALFA has no secrets.  In fact, on the same website one may find all that is worth knowing about any organization, including the required qualifications for membership, its membership fee, the names of the members of its board of directors, the conferences it has sponsored, its future projects, its press releases, and its correspondence with American politicians and (elected) lawmakers. This clearly transparent organization decides to hold a conference in Washington DC to discuss the Libyan Constitution of 1951, which has been suspended effectively since the 1969 coup d'état when Qadhafi became the absolute and sole ruler of the country. A public invitation was extended to all Libyans who may be able to travel and spend the weekend in the US capital (link to the invitation).  As more and more people began to call or email expressing their intentions to attend, the organizers of the conference began compiling lists of potential attendees, and they exchanged this information among themselves via email for the purpose of completing any missing information and pooling the several partial lists into one master database, which would include the names of the attendees, their email addresses and telephone numbers, and what part of the world they would be coming from. Either part of or the entire database somehow ended up in the hands of the secret service of Colonel Qadhafi, which is apparently in high gear these days both in North America and Europe. Qadhafi's mukhabarat, in turn, willingly and graciously fed this information or part of it to one of their recruits who, in turn, published an article on this website, declaring triumphantly that he is in possession of "a very important document" which reveals the secrets of ALFA. This helpful public mouthpiece then attached to his rambling article a list of the potential attendees of the Constitutional Conference, introducing it with sarcastic comments about the reverence members of ALFA and Libyan dissidents in general show toward the CONSTITUTION. It is interesting that despite his advanced age and experience, this helpful mouthpiece does not realize that the only "little secret" that he succeeded in revealing is the fact that he is a cheap tool in the hands of Qadhaf's boys, who fear the assembly and unity of Libyans in defense of their CONSTITUTION, and their aspiration for the establishment of a democratically elected, legitimate government in LIBYA.     Thanks. N. Anaizi