Politicians powerless against militias

TRIPOLI, Libya — In a humiliating video, Libya’s top politician — the head of Parliament — is seen begging with a militia commander, trying to explain to him why he was caught with two women in his residence and insisting nothing scandalous was going on.

“In God’s name,” Nouri Abu Sahmein tells the militiaman, Haitham alTajouri. “I’m hiding nothing from you, Haitham.” Visibly afraid, Abu Sahmein tells him the women claimed to have “sensitive information” at a time he has received tips about a cell plotting to assassinate him.

“I want to close this all up, but I want to understand. I am not a fool,” the militia commander replies, speaking from off camera.

The video, taken and leaked by the militiamen and shown earlier this month on Libyan TV stations, sparked an uproar and prompted the prosecutor general to investigate, summoning Abu Sahmein and al- Tajouri for questioning. The prosecutor is aiming to determine if any crime took place, whether blackmail by the militiaman or a violation of morals laws by Abu Sahmein, an Islamist- leaning politician.

Ultimately, what the video highlighted, however, was how weak even Libya’s most prominent politicians are in the face of the militias that have become both the enforcers of the law and the fuel of lawlessness in the country since the 2011 ouster and death of Moammar Gadhafi.

From the start, the fledgling government did little to follow through on a program to disarm and demobilize the militias. Instead, officials tried to buy them off, spending billions of dollars to enlist the fighters in various security tasks, without ever winning their loyalty — or building a state for them to be loyal to.

Now, with the army and police still in disarray, politicians are far too weak to control the militias.