Mahdi al-Harati

Who is Mahdi al-Harati?

Mahdi al-Harati is a former co-commander of the Tripoli Brigade during the Libyan civil war. He was also the commander of Liwaa Al-Umma, a militant group fighting against the Syrian government in the Syrian civil war.

Before the Libyan civil war he was an Arabic teacher in Dublin, where he lived with his Irish-born wife and family.

He was described by Volkskrant, a Dutch daily newspaper, as being a face of the Battle of Tripoli and one of the most important rebel commanders of the Libyan civil war. The Sunday Times, a British newspaper, offered a first-hand account of Al-Mahdi's advance on Tripoli and his men's assault on Gaddafi's former residence, Bab Al-Azizia. He was appointed second in command of the newly formed Tripoli Military Council.

On 6 October 2011, a traveller gang broke into al-Harati's house in Rathkeale, as his wife Eftaima al-Najar was in Tallaght hospital with one of their kids. The thieves take an important quantity of expensive jewels from the couple's bedroom, as well as 200,000 euros in €500 notes hidden on a hot press. When asked about that substantial amount of cash, al-Harati declared to Irish officers that the money was given to him by members of an American intelligence agency to help to bring down Muammar Gaddafi.