Libya’s leader ‘swimming against current’

Cities, districts lawless fiefdoms of militiamen

TRIPOLI, Libya Libya’s prime minister said Sunday he is “swimming against the current” in a country awash with militias and weapons as Libyans mark the second anniversary of the killing of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Ali Zidan spoke to journalists in Tripoli, more than a week after he was seized and briefly held captive by a mix of militiamen.

The incident highlighted how a nation that rebelled against Gadhafi, a ruthless ruler who crushed opponents like Zidan and chased them into exile, fell hostage to unruly militias.

The armed groups were originally born out of the rebel forces that fought Gadhafi’s brigades during the eight-month civil war in 2011. However, the absence of a central police force and a national army left successive transitional governments with no option but rely on rebel forces to impose law and order.

Over the past two years, rebels grew from tens of thousands to nearly 200,000 militiamen, acting with near impunity, and turning Libya’s cities and districts to fiefdoms.

The government is “swimming against the current,” Zidan said.

Simmering tensions in Libya were inflamed by an Oct. 5 raid by U.S. special forces that snatched a Libyan al-Qaida suspect known as Abu Anas al-Libi off the streets of Tripoli and whisked him off to custody in a U.S. warship. Islamists accused Zidan of facilitating the abduction of al-Libi, something he repeatedly denied. The incident was seen as the motive behind Zidan’s abduction.

In Sunday’s comments, Zidan identified lawmakers Mohammed al-Kilani and Mustafa al-Teriki as being the ones who plotted his abduction. The two lawmakers later denied Zidan’s claim