As political figures vie for influence in Libya, Islamist groups have been empowered to crack down on religious freedoms, women, and minority groups across the country.
understanding of islam. reporter: benotman s risk would leave him vulnerable to attack. but after 2 1/2 years, it paid off. more than a simple peace agreement, the libyan jihadists issued their manifesto. more than 400 pages of complex religious arguments that challenge, point by point, the very justifications al qaeda uses to recruit young men to violence. translator: i have over 20 years experience in the libyan islamic fighting group. reporter: this prisoner, tariq durman, was picked up in jordan, where he was a commander running a cell. he d previously fought in afghanistan. hid out in suzanne sedan sudan yemen. reporter: we came to the conclusion that fighting skprinls was not the way forward. to start with, he book withed at sharia law, and there is no evidence in the koran or in the
sayings of the prophet that what we were doing was right. reporter: durman and other prisoners say they want to win over young muslim radicals to their new peaceful code. on page 203, the code, quite boldly states, jihad has ethics and morality, because it s for the sake of allah. this means that killing of women, children, old people, christian priests and businessmen is wrong. translator: this code will be of interest to everybody in the islamic world. we are an experiment, of course, but we hope what we have done could be duplicated all over the muslim world. reporter: the impact of the code is already being felt. cnn has learned that the british security service, mi-5 is he handing it out to radical islamists in britain and a group will use it to combat extremism
challenge, point by point, the very justifications al qaeda uses to recruit young men to violence. translator: i have over 20 years experience in the libyan islamic fighting group. reporter: this prisoner, tariq durman, was picked up in jordan, where he was a commander running a cell. he d previously fought in afghanistan. hidden out in sudan and yemen. translator: we came to the conclusion trying to establish the islamic state by using violence and fighting was not the way forward. to start with, we looked at sharia law and there was no evidence in the koran or in the sayings of the prophet that what we were doing was right. reporter: durman and other prisoners say they want to win over young muslim radicals to their new peaceful code. on page 203, the code, quite boldly states, jihad has ethics