By Hamad Farhat, a Libyan writer
It’s time of impishness, extortion and Baiyou
Behind the conflict between armed militias of all sides in Libya over the spoils of the war, soft parasitic militias have grown up, moving from one place to another, whose sole aim is spilling the largest amount of blood and obtaining as much money as they can.
This case is represented by the so-called “Muhammad Omar Baiyou” with his articles and interviews, and through his public appearances on many occasions, his attitudes and aspirations, jumping from one place to another, occupying his revolutionary balance and words in the era of Gaddafi to practice demonization and extortion during the February era, employing his talents to criticize those who don’t pay and applaud those who pay.
Through a quick survey of Baiyou, who pretends to be a patriotic intellectual of a unique type, and through a survey of all his writings and interviews on news sites and social media pages, we will find a case of demonization and blackmail discourse.
During the lean past years, he has appeared as an opponent to Sarraj, then an opponent to Al-Kabir and last but not least as an opponent to Haftar, and then he turned to a drummer and a cannon ferociously.
Mohammad Baiyou, born in Ajdabiya and a graduate of Qaryounis University, Department of Media, was a member of the Gaddafi’s Revolutionary Committees Movement since he was a student.
After his graduation, he was assigned with numerous revolutionary tasks in and outside Misrata, the most recent of which was the director general of the Gaddafi press foundation. He was arrested and interrogated for financial corruption, until he finally won the post of media spokesman for the Governor of the Central Bank.
Baiyou has once installed himself as a spokesperson for the people to criticize Sarraj during his first days in power. Then he changed the course and started applauding Sarraj as a good person for power, what has happened?
He also used his pen against "Ali Mahmoud", the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Libyan Investment Authority. He wrote on his Facebook page: "Keeping Ali Mahmoud at the head of the Libyan Investment Authority is a major crime for which the perpetrator Sarraj will be held accountable. You lost the sale Sarraj", but the post was later deleted, in what appeared to be an agreement, causing him to delete what he had said.
Baiyou was also known in the Libyan circles for his infinite contradiction, and his actions have been compared to those who like to be with the strongest in jumping from one boat to another. During the days of the former regime, he worked as a spokesman for the Revolutionary Committees and a spokesman for the General People's Secretariat.
After February revolution, he published statements by Al-Kabir and the Central Bank, while at the same time denying that he was the official spokesperson for the bank, and this statement is contrary to the truth.
Another contradiction was revealed by “Dr. Mostafa Zaidi”, who said: "Brother Mohammed Baiyou has written a strange post on his Facebook page warning of an imminent alliance between the followers of September and the Muslim Brotherhood in the upcoming elections, and because Mr. Baiyou means what he wrote, I must answer: if what it published was part of a plan to smear the national powers by falsely and arbitrarily associating them with terrorist groups, in the context of an election campaign, this is something that needs to be prepared to deal with and confront, even if it is about muddled information, it requires an effort to explain it!"
On the other hand, Libya Channel broadcaster “Ahmed Al-Senussi publicly exposed the practices of Baiyou in a recorded video, asking him to reveal the source of his large sums of money after he denied working as a spokesman for the Central Bank.
Al-Senussi accused Baiyou of blackmailing the Chairman of the Presidential Council, Fayez Al-Sarraj, and the Head of the Audit Bureau, Khaled Shakshak, in addition to accusing him of blackmailing the former general manager of the Libyan Foreign Bank, "Muhammad bin Yusuf" to sign a contract with him, and when Bin Yusef refused, he used his media influence in order to defame Bin Yusef.
In a statement, Bin Yusef hinted at the blackmail of Baiyou, saying: “He used to praise us in letters which has been documented, and when we have rejected his requests, we became corrupt in his point of view”, adding that “Baiyou’s history is full of flattery, corruption and hypocrisy.”
Now, and after he flirted with the “Field Marshal” and his whims, he turned away from him, and has succeeded in persuading Al-Sarraj’s advisors to issue a decision to appoint him as the head of the Media Institution. How does that happen? It’s time of impishness, extortion and Baiyou
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect those of The Libya Observer