Residents of Tripoli have given their vocal backing to the transitional government’s efforts to disarm the various rebel militia and to persuade them to return to their homes. In demonstrations on 7 December, residents and police gathered in Martyrs’ Square to demand the removal from the city of all weapons left over from the civil war.
Militias from Misrata and Zintan had been especially evident in Tripoli since August, when they helped liberate the city from Muammar Qadhafi’s forces. They subsequently manned checkpoints on key roads and at the international airport. The groups also on occasion clashed in night-time battles. On 10 December, Zintan fighters even opened fire on the convoy of the army commander, General Khalifa Hifter.
The head of the city council, Abdel-Rafik Bu Hajjar, had earlier asked all individuals to give up their weapons and go back to civilian life or sign up with security forces with the ministries of defence or interior.
It was uncertain how many militia fighters might be given paid employment, or how the selection process might be conducted.
“Effective transitional governance is one of the most pressing challenges facing the reconstruction and stabilisation in Libya,” said political commentator Mohamed Eljarh. “Among the priorities will be robust security forces… and police units capable of operating in anarchic conditions, followed by individual police, judicial and penal personnel to restore the rule of law.” Before effective elections could be held, it would be essential to disarm and demobilise combatants and other armed groups and to ensure the rights of minorities are protected by the rule of law, Eljarh added.
An urgent task facing Libya’s new rulers is the rebuilding of a working economy. Unemployment is estimated at 30 percent and the private sector has long been neglected in favour of the public sector, which was controlled by the Qadhafi clan. “We must facilitate business and open the way for foreign investment,” said interim economy minister Tahar Sharkass.
The oil industry is recovering after months of disrupted production, with output expected soon to reach half the pre-war level of 1.6 million barrels a day. Oil exports account for more than 98 percent of the country’s foreign exchange earnings. The transitional government has been trying to trace state assets of more than US$140 billion invested outside Libya.
A largely unseen side effect of the Libyan revolution and civil war has been the impact on the African migrants living in the country at the time the fighting started in March. More than 200,000 of them fled, losing most of their property and belongings, and many are still seeking assistance to return to their homes in Chad, Niger, Nigeria and other countries of West Africa. “Stranded African migrants remain exposed on a daily basis to arbitrary detention, harassment and persecution,” noted a recent report by the International Organization for Migration.
