President in bid to rein in Libya’s rogue militiamen

Published on 24/09/2012 02:19

Libya’s president has ordered all of the country’s militias to come under government authority or disband, a move that appears to be aimed at harnessing popular anger against the powerful armed groups following the attack that killed the US ambassador.

The assault on the US mission in Benghazi, which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, has sparked an angry backlash among many Libyans against the myriad armed factions that continue to run rampant across the nation nearly a year after the end of the country’s civil war.

On Friday, Benghazi residents staged a mass demonstration against the militias, and stormed the compounds of several armed groups in the city in an unprecedented protest to demand the militias dissolve.

President Mohammed el-Megaref said the militias, which the central government has relied upon for providing security in some areas since the removal of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, must fall under the authority of the national government or be disbanded.

He said a joint operations room in Benghazi will liaise between the various authorised armed brigades and the army. Armed groups operating outside the “legitimacy of the state” will be disbanded, and the military and police will take control over those militias’ barracks, he said.

The military asked all armed groups using the army’s camps and outposts and barracks in Tripoli and other cities to hand them over. It warned it will resort to force if the groups refuse.

The militias, which arose as people took up arms to fight Gaddafi’s regime, bristle with heavy weapons, pay little attention to national authorities and are accused by some of acting like gangs, carrying out killings.