Little hope for curbing militias Terror timeline

BENGHAZI, Libya— Amonth after the killing of the U. S. ambassador ignited a public outcry for civilian control of Libya’s fractious militias, that hope has been all but lost in a tangle of grudges, rivalries and egos.

Scores of disparate militias remain Libya’s only effective police force but have stubbornly resisted government control, a dynamic that is making it difficult for Libyan authorities or the U. S. to catch the attackers who killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.

Shocked by that assault, tens of thousands of people filled the streets last month to demand the dismantling of all the militias. But the country’s interim president, MohamedMagariaf, warned them to back off as leaders of the largest brigades threatened to cut off the vital services they provide, like patrolling the borders.

“We feel hurt, we feel underappreciated,” said Ismail el- Salabi, one of several brigade leaders who warned that public

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security had deteriorated because their forces had pulled back.

Taming the militias has been the threshold test to build a democracy after four decades of dictatorship underMoammar Gadhafi. But how to bring them to heel while depending on them for security has eluded the weak transitional government, trapping Libya in a state of lawlessness.

Now that problem has become entangled in the U. S. presidential race as well, with Republicans arguing that the Obama administration’s failure to protect Stevens illustrates the unraveling of its policy in the region. Mounting pressure on the administration to act against the perpetrators carries its own risks: A U. S. strike on Libyan soil could produce a popular and potentially violent backlash in the only Arab country whose people largely have warm feelings towardWashington.

The militias’ power is evident. In one of Tripoli’s finest hotels, theWaddan, about two dozen militiamen from thewestern city ofMisrata continue to help themselves to rooms without paying.

In Benghazi, independent brigades are using tapped telephones to hunt down suspected loyalists of Gadhafi, with the help of his former intelligence services. Even the huge anti- militia protest last month became cover for a group of armed men to attack one of the largest brigades, possibly for revenge.

“Nothing changes,” shrugged Fathi al- Obeidi, themilitia commander who led a contingent of fighters that helped rescue the Americans in the besieged diplomatic mission here last month.

Some Benghazi residents even say that the militia seen carrying out the attack, Ansar al- Shariah, did a better job than the paralytic government at providing security and even some social services.

“They are very nice people,” said Ashraf Bujwary, 40, an administrator at a hospital where Ansar al- Shariah men had served as guards.