Power play in Libya following Ambassadors Death, US Intelligence Fiasco

Libyan security forces head to a compound which had been taken over by an armed group in Tripoli September 23, 2012. Libya’s army on Sunday ordered rogue armed groups in and around Tripoli to leave state and military premises or be ejected by force, apparently seeking to capitalize on the withdrawal of militias from Benghazi and Derna.

Libya militia crackdown spreads to Tripoli
23 September, 2012 – By Imed Lamloum – Agence France Presse

TRIPOLI: A Libyan crackdown on lawless militias spread to the capital on Sunday after armed groups that have not been integrated into state institutions were ordered to disband and evacuate their bases.

The army said in an online statement that its forces had dislodged a militia from a military complex on the highway to Tripoli International Airport, arresting militiamen and confiscating their weapons.

Gunfire was heard in the area at 9 am (0700 GMT) for less than a minute, an AFP journalist said, but there were no reports of casualties. A military source later said they were only warning shots.

Members of an armed group which had settled into a couple of villas overlooking the Mediterranean were evicted in the afternoon, the correspondent added.

Dozens of pick-up trucks blocked access to the Regata residential compound as members of the so-called National Mobile Unit of the army entered the complex to eject the militiamen.

An AFP correspondent witnessed from a distance as commanders of the brigade negotiated with the armed men who later were seen leaving the compound without putting up a fight.

“Our mission is to evacuate all public installations and private property occupied by groups who are not under state jurisdiction,” Haj Musa, one of the commanders of the unit, later told AFP.

Earlier an army officer had said these operations would last two or three weeks.

On Saturday, the army issued an ultimatum ordering militias and armed groups to evacuate military compounds, state property and the properties of ex-regime members in and around Tripoli.

“All individuals and armed groups occupying military barracks, public buildings or property belonging to members of the former regime… (must) evacuate these sites within 48 hours,” said the official LANA news agency.

Hundreds of former rebels have taken over strategic, state-owned military and civilian facilities and properties of supporters and relatives of the late dictator Moamer Kadhafi in the wake of his ouster and death last year.

The army warned it would “use force if necessary.”

The Tripoli eviction comes hours after national assembly chief Mohammed al-Megaryef announced the decision to dissolve all militias that do not come under state authority.

Speaking in Benghazi, Megaryef said the authorities had decided to set up an “operations room” in the eastern city to include the army, interior ministry forces and defence ministry brigades comprising former rebels.

He also called on the army to place its own officers to head brigades born out of the 2011 revolt, which escalated into the civil war that toppled Kadhafi.

Crackdown follows murder of US ambassador
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