Libya’s newly elected parliament has asked the UN for an “international intervention” and voted on Wednesday to dismantle the militias responsible for weeks of violence across the country.
The country is witnessing its worst spasm of violence since the 2011 ouster and killing of deposed Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi as rival militias battle for control of territory and political clout.
Thousands have fled the country, including diplomats and foreign nationals. Scores of embassies have closed down and international organizations have shut their offices.
Photo: AFP
In a move that aimed to stem the violence, 102 of the 104 lawmakers in attendance voted to dismantle the rival militias, giving them an ultimatum to join the military and police by the end of the year.
Officials repeatedly have tried unsuccessfully to disarm the slew of militias that sprouted in Libya to fight Qaddafi.
It is not yet clear how the decision on Wednesday will be implemented.
In a joint statement, the governments of the US, France, Germany, Britain and Italy deplored the ongoing fighting and called for “an immediate ceasefire and for all parties in this conflict to begin a peaceful political dialogue.”
“We are in particular deeply concerned by the increasing toll the violence is taking on Libya’s civilian population and institutions, as well as the threat it poses to Libya’s democratic transition,” a US State Department statement said. “We deplore the rise in the number of civilian casualties and express deep concern about the shortages in medical supplies, the displacement of thousands of families, the destruction of residences and infrastructure, as well as the halt in economic activity.”
The statement demanded that all sides “recognize the authority of the elected representatives of the Libyan people.”
MP Eissa al-Aribi said that the militia members have until Dec. 31 to join the regular forces or to be integrated in other state institutions. Until then, he said, their salaries would be paid.
Al-Aribi said violators would face up to three years in prison.
Nearly 200,000 people are estimated to be on the government payroll as part of various militias.
The parliament is convening in Libya’s eastern-most city of Tobruk, far from the weeks-long militia battle over the international airport in the capital, Tripoli, and clashes in the country’s second-largest city, Benghazi.
The militias filled a void left by weak police and a shattered army. Successive governments have put militias on their payroll in return for maintaining order, but rivalries over control and resources have led to fierce fighting.
The militias are divided along regional and ideological lines, with western and eastern militias as well as Islamists and anti-Islamists pitted against each other.
MPs also adopted a resolution asking the UN Security Council to intervene in the militia violence.
The new parliament is composed of mostly anti-Islamist politicians.
It was not immediately clear how the UN would respond to the Libyan parliament plea, but calls for outside help have come from many in Libya.
The UN mission in Libya, which evacuated because of the violence, has called on warring parties to stop the violence and hold peace talks.
Violence mounted when Islamist-led militias mainly from the coastal city of Misrata launched an attack on the Tripoli airport, under the control of rival militias from the mountain town of Zintan.
Analysts believe that the operation came as a backlash to Islamists’ devastating loss in the last parliamentarian elections and to counter a campaign in Benghazi led by a reneged army general and army units against Islamic militias. At least 250 people have been killed in these clashes.
KINGPIN: Marset allegedly laundered the proceeds of his drug enterprise by purchasing and sponsoring professional soccer teams and even put himself in the starting lineups Notorious Latin American narco trafficker Sebastian Marset, who eluded police for years, was handed over to US authorities after his arrest on Friday in Bolivia. Marset, a Uruguayan national who was on the US most-wanted list, was passed to agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration at Santa Cruz airport in Bolivia, then put on a US airplane, Bolivian state television showed. “The arrest and deportation were carried out pursuant to a court order issued by the US justice system,” Bolivian Minister of Government Marco Antonio Oviedo told reporters. The alleged kingpin was arrested in an upscale neighborhood of Santa
ACTIONABLE ADVICE: The majority of chatbots tested provided guidance on weapons, tactics and target selections, with Perplexity and Meta AI deemed to be the least safe From school shootings to synagogue bombings, leading artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots helped researchers plot violent attacks, according to a study published on Wednesday that highlighted the technology’s potential for real-world harm. Researchers from the nonprofit watchdog Center for Countering Digital Hate and CNN posed as 13-year-old boys in the US and Ireland to test 10 chatbots, including ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity, Deepseek and Meta AI. Eight of the chatbots assisted the make-believe attackers in more than half the responses, providing advice on “locations to target” and “weapons to use” in an attack, the study said. The chatbots had become a “powerful accelerant for
FAKE NEWS? ‘When the government demands the press become a state mouthpiece under the threat of punishment, something has gone very wrong,’ a civic group said The top US broadcast regulator on Saturday threatened media outlets over negative coverage of the Middle East war, after US President Donald Trump slammed critical headlines from the “Fake News Media.” The US president since his first term has derided mainstream media as “fake news” and has sued major outlets over what he sees as unfair coverage. Brendan Carr, head of the US Federal Communications Commission — which oversees the nation’s radio, television and Internet media — said broadcasters risked losing their licenses over news coverage. “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will
SCANDAL: Other images discovered earlier show Andrew bent over a female and lying across the laps of a number of women, while Mandelson is pictured in his underpants A photograph of former British prince Andrew and veteran politician Peter Mandelson sitting in bathrobes alongside late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was unearthed on Friday in previously published documents. The image is believed to be the first known photograph of the two men with Epstein. They are currently engulfed in scandal in the UK over their ties to their mutual friend. The undated photograph, first reported by ITV News, shows King Charles III’s disgraced brother and former British ambassador to the US sitting barefoot outside on a wooden deck. They appear to have mugs with a US flag on them
RSS