Concern over rival armed security force in Tripoli

A LIBYAN revolutionary officer has announced the creation of an armed group to keep order in Tripoli, a mission that may overlap uneasily with an existing military council with the same job which is led by a prominent Islamist.

Announcing the Tripoli Revolutionists Council at a news conference in Tripoli yesterday, Abdullah Ahmed Naker said his force had 22,000 armed men at its disposal, drawn from what he said were 73 factions which had agreed to pool resources.

The move may stir concern about tensions among the many revolutionary militias who play a de facto security role in the capital, where residents say they fear some groups may resort to violence as they jockey for power.

Mr Naker said his group was co-operating with the Tripoli Military Council which is led by Abdulhakim Belhadj, a veteran Islamist foe of Muammar Gaddafi.

He said it would protect citizens’ security and property, collect unlicensed weapons, support humanitarian relief work and help create civil society institutions.

But Mr Naker suggested Mr Belhadj’s group, believed by Western diplomats to be supported by Qatar, was not representative of Tripoli’s population and not large enough.

“We established the council because we saw that Tripoli people are marginalised … They have not been invited to participate in any entity in the new government,” he said.

He said his relations were normal with Mr Belhadj but he did not know much about his background.

“Who is he? Who appointed him?” he asked.

Mr Belhadj led an Islamist guerrilla uprising against Col Gaddafi in the 1990s. He later spent time with Taleban and al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan.