By Alasdair McKay, Researcher, UK Defence Forum

The current civil war in Libya has inspired discussions about the legacy of Muammar Gaddafi's forty two year rule. The issues of his domestic policy and foreign policy towards the West have been subject to considerable debate, but lesser known aspects of his activities have been somewhat overlooked, particularly the brutality which emerged from Gaddafi's drive for regional supremacy. His ambitions became manifested in a paramilitary organization known as the Islamic Legion, which serves as the focus of this contribution. The Islamic Legion carries importance because the ruptures of this organization are still being felt today with disastrous consequences for political stability and human rights in Sub-Saharan Africa. This has been most discernable in the recent Darfur crisis, which has seen the horrendous effects of militia forces colorized with intense Arab supremacism and racism towards "non-Arabs".

The Islamic Legion was formed in 1973 – some three years after Gaddafi came to power in Libya. Inspired by the French Foreign Legion, Gaddafi created the Islamic Legion as a tool to Arabize the region, and to form the Great Islamic State of the Sahel. The priorities were first Chad, and then Sudan.

Despite the Arab and Islamic-focused ambitions of the group, the Legion was comprised of individuals from various ethnic origins. Both Arabs and Africans came to Libya hoping to find a civilian job, but were instead forcefully recruited to go and fight in foreign lands.

Gaddafi dispatched legionnaires to Lebanon, Syria, Uganda and Palestine. But the Legion was to be mostly associated with the Libyan-Chadian War, where, in 1980, 7,000 legionnaires took part in the second battle of N'Djamena. Provided with inadequate military training, the legionnaires' fighting record was most noted for its ineptitude, and Gaddafi's force was essentially humiliated. The Legion was disbanded by Gaddafi in 1987 as a result of its defeats in Chad and the Libyan retreat from that country.

However,