- Two militias will join the regular army under command of its colonels
- A deadline for rogue militias to withdraw ended Monday
- Official: There has been no resistance from unauthorized militias
- Militias have been a growing concern in post-revolution Libya
Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- With the passage of a 48-hour deadline to rogue militias to disperse, the Libyan government has announced it is placing two free militias under its command.
Two regular army colonels will take over the leadership of the pro-government militias, the Rafallah al-Sahati Brigade and the February 17 Brigade, the state-run LANA news agency said Monday.
The Libyan government issued its ultimatum late Saturday, calling for unauthorized militias to withdraw from property belonging to the former regime of Moammar Gadhafi. It threatened to enforce the deadline with military might, if needed.
So far, there has been no resistance from any of the unauthorized militias, a spokesman for Libyan Prime Minister Mustafa Abushagur told CNN late Monday.
Militias and other unauthorized armed groups have been a growing concern in post-revolution Libya.
Militia members across Libya remain loyal to their groups and distrust the new government's authority, in part because of the "taint" of a link to the Gadhafi regime, said Frederic Wehrey, a senior associate in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
In a February report, Amnesty International said militias in Libya were committing human rights abuses with impunity, threatening to destabilize the country and hindering its efforts to rebuild.
However, the issue didn't gain much attention until this month's attack at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
Among the militias under orders to withdraw from military compounds and public buildings was Ansar al Sharia, the group blamed for organizing the protest outside the consulate September 11.
The protests stemmed from an inflammatory anti-Islam video produced in the United States. The demonstrations may have served as a cover for heavily armed militants to launch their attack on the complex, authorities said.
Over the weekend, army troops raided a former military base in Tripoli, kicking out a rogue infantry brigade and detaining its members. And two Islamist militias -- Bou Salim Martyrs and Ansar al Sharia -- have agreed to disband.
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised the Libyan people for their efforts to rid the country of the armed bands blamed for the killings.
"The people of the Arab world did not set out to trade the tyranny of a dictator for the tyranny of a mob," she said in New York in a speech to the Clinton Global Initiative. "There is no dignity in that. The people of Benghazi sent this message loudly and clearly on Friday, when they forcefully rejected the extremists in their midst and reclaimed the honor and dignity of a courageous city.
"They mourned the loss of Ambassador Chris Stevens, a friend and champion of a free Libya, and his fallen comrades. They are not alone. People and leaders from across the region and the world and beyond have spoken in recent days against violence."
In her speech, she referred to Friday's rally in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi where hundreds of protesters took over the headquarters of Ansar al Sharia.
How the Benghazi attack unfolded
CNN's Barbara Starr, Jomana Karadsheh, Arwa Damon, Salma Abdelaziz, Saad Abedine and Tom Watkins contributed to this report.
0 comments:
Post a Comment