Expert underlines at US Congress Libyan crisis impact on Algeria

American expert on terrorism issues Daveed Gartenstein-Ross underlined before the US Congress the impact of the Libyan crisis on security in Algeria and the region, pointing out that the intervention of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was a strategic mistake on the part of USA and its allies, despite the warnings launched by Algeria. Speaking before the United States House of Representatives, which devoted on Friday a special to Libya, Gartenstein-Ross said that the intervention in Libya left a country plagued by instability where the government has never been able to restore control. Consequently, he added, NATO’s intervention has potentially destabilizing effect not only on Libya’s immediate neighbours, such as Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt, but also on Mali as, according to him, it significantly encouraged the jihadists to take the control of Northern Mali, leading to another intervention by France. NATO’s intervention in Libya had also speed up the events in Syria, according to him, where a tragic civil war has caused more than 150,000 deaths. When observing the effects of NATO’s intervention in Libya, it seems that this decision affected the strategic interests of the United States and made the region more dangerous, said the expert.