Um ano de incertezas na Líbia

By AFP
TRIPOLI


One year since the anti-Qaddafi revolt erupted, Libya is battling challenges ranging from how to tame rowdy militias who fought his forces to establishing a new rule of law in the country.

On Friday, Libya marks the first anniversary of the revolution against Muammar Qaddafi, which was ignited in the eastern city of Benghazi on February 17 and ended on October 20 with the dictator’s killing.

No official celebrations have been organized at a national level, but local councils are planning commemorations and have been warned to be on the alert against possible attacks by Qaddafi supporters.

“We need to be careful because some agents of Qaddafi’s regime have dreams (of creating insecurity). But the thuwar (revolutionaries) are ready all the time to confront them firmly,” warned Interior Minister Fawzi Abdelali.





Qaddafi’s ouster and death was one of the key events of the so-called Arab Spring, but Libya has since struggled to erase the legacy of the former strongman’s four decades of iron-fisted rule.

Thousands of people were killed or wounded in the struggle, the country’s vital oil production ground to a halt, and homes, businesses, factories, schools and hospitals were devastated.

So Libya’s new rulers face daunting challenges -- not only rebuilding an ageing infrastructure and repairing the damage, but also fostering vibrant state institutions, tackling a corrupt economy and boosting what are weak health, judicial and educational systems.

But their most immediate headache is how to control the tens of thousands of ex-rebels who helped oust Qaddafi and have now turned into powerful militias, whose jealously guarded commitment to their honour and power occasionally erupts into deadly clashes.

“By now they (militias) have developed vested interests they will be loath to relinquish,” said World Bank advisor Hafed al-Ghwell in a recent report.

Ghwell said the militias have an edge over the nation’s National Transitional Council (NTC) because of their “superior local knowledge and connections, strong leaderships and revolutionary legitimacy.”

In the absence of a regular and efficient national army and police, the militias are providing security on the streets and even guarding installations such as airports.

But armed with light and heavy weapons these rival militias have emerged as the biggest security threat for Libya, regularly clashing with each other and causing fatalities.

Global human rights organizations Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Doctors Without Borders have lashed out at them, accusing them of torturing their prisoners, most of whom are former pro-Qaddafi fighters.

“Revenge attacks against populations deemed to have supported Qaddafi also grew” in recent months, HRW said in its World Report 2012, particularly targeting militias from the city of western port city of Misrata.