Mass anti-militia protests in Libya

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I ied motives of those Arab and Muslim n the article above, we note the var­ forces protesting the assault on the U.S. diplomatic/spy compounds in Benghazi. Nowhere was the reaction more dramatic than in Libya itself, where many of those who had welcomed Gadhafi’s fall from power have been growing increasingly tired of the behavior of sectarian militias who participated in the uprising, some of whom the new imperialist-backed govern­ ment has relied on to keep it in power and to police the country.

Andrea Khalil and Malak Bouod, in their article at jadaliyya.com, “Libyan Eastern Tribal Chiefs, Population, and Govern­ ment,” described a meeting organized by tribal chiefs in the country’s eastern region (where Benghazi sits) after the assault on the U.S. sites. The chiefs invited govern­ ment officials, but made it clear that the lat­ ter were there to listen, not decide. The central demand of the meeting was that the militias give up their weapons and dissolve, and that the government take re­ sponsibility for all military and policing functions. Many of those at the meeting condemned recent attacks on Sufi shrines and other criminal acts of the militias, con­ demnations which have been widespread among Libyans and Libyan expats in social media in recent weeks.

The meeting condemned the attack on the U.S. site, as well as “kidnappings and ‘disappearances’ committed by armed bri­ gades operating outside the control of the military and police.” But they also warned against the act being used “as a pretext for foreign military intervention in Libya.” The declarations of the chiefs match growing dissatisfaction with the contin­ ued chaos in the country since Gadhafi’s fall. Khalil and Bouod cite opinion polls in which 70% of those surveyed ranked “fighting crime and disorder” as their first, second, or third priority, with 51% saying it was their first priority. The authors admitted that the tribal chiefs who ran the meeting are neither elected nor representative of any grassroots organiza­ tions, but say that the space they’ve opened in defiance of the government could be filled by youth and other “civil society groups.” There is evidence both for and against this thesis.

On the one hand, on Friday, Sept. 21, over 30,000 Libyans stormed some militia bases, forcing them to dissolve and leave their weapons behind. The demonstration, said Khalil and Bouod, “was organized by a leaderless group of thirty to forty activ­ ists, with no dominant political affiliations or ties to NGOs. It was a well-organized, carefully thought-out demonstration that sought to draw the biggest and most peace­ ful crowds possible.”

If the tens of thousands involved can become organized by neighborhood, by workplace, by campus or profession, this would over time, and with proper leader­ ship, give the masses the sense that they, and not the government or sectarian mili­ tias, can be the sole power in the country. But for now the apparent leaders of the anti-militia movement seek instead to re­ inforce the authority of the new bourgeois government—an authority that the timid and insecure government prefers to share with the sectarian militias.

As Al-Jazeera reported, “Since the kill­ ing of Stevens, the Libyan government has taken a two-track approach—shutting down Islamist militias like Ansar al-Sharia that operated without official government permission, but also offering public back­ ing to many of the most powerful armed groups, which have official licenses to op­ erate.”

Thus, when the masses showed eagerness to go again into the streets the following Friday to deal with the remaining militias, both government officials and religious leaders begged them to stay home. n