ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday that the United States has no plans to intervene militarily against Islamic State (ISIS) in Libya, where the group has a foothold. Washington would only consider intervening if there was "some turn of events, like weapons of mass destruction ending up in the hands of the wrong people," Kerry said according to AP. Instead he believes that the Libyan national unity government should seek to combat ISIS itself. "As everybody here knows, that country has resources," said Kerry. "The last thing in the world you'd want is a false caliphate with access to billions of dollars in oil revenue." "The US and its European and Arab partners should increase security training and help Libya's military, not just to clear territory, but to create a safe environment for the government to stand up and operate," he suggested. He made these remarks at a conference of 23 foreign ministers representing the foremost countries in the US-led coalition against ISIS in Iraq and Syria which was held in Rome. Meanwhile, the US anti-ISIS coalition envoy Brett McGurk said, following a visit to the Kurdish city of Kobani over the weekend, that Islamist militants were flocking into Libya as it has become more difficult for them to reach Syria. “They are now trying to make Libya their hub,” McGurk told the Washington Post. “I think that’s part and parcel of the success we’ve had in Syria. If you’re a foreign fighter joining ISIL in Syria, you’re going to die in Syria. I think they are learning that,” he said, using an alternative acronym for ISIS. Saeed Mamuzini, a Kurdish official from Mosul, confirmed to Rudaw that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had ordered some 200 elites of the group in Mosul to move to Libya to lay the groundwork for other militants to reach that country.
