If only NATO knew of a strong secular leader. Someone who could keep these religious fanatics in check. A leader who could invest the trillions of Libyan wealth in Libya. A strongman whose rule could keep the ethnic cleansing in check...

Too bad there are only murderous religious fanatics to run the show, waste the wealth and carry out ethnic cleansing.

Libyan militiamen attacked white-flag-carrying protesters demanding the disbanding of the country’s rampant armed groups on Friday, killing at least 22 people as they opened fire on the march with heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zidan blamed the protesters and the militia alike for the violence, though witnesses said they saw no protesters carrying weapons ahead of the shooting Friday afternoon. By Friday night, however, some protesters joined by other militias had armed themselves and heavy gunfire rang out in the Tripoli neighborhood where the attack happened.

The march in the capital Tripoli by thousands of protesters was the biggest show of public anger at militias in months. Since the 2011 fall of dictator Moammar Gadhafi, hundreds of militias — many of them on government payroll — have run out of control in Libya, carving out zones of power, defying state authority and launching violent attacks.

The protesters marched from a downtown mosque to the headquarters of a militia originally from the city of Misrata that has a powerful presence in Tripoli. They waved Libyan and white flags and chanted, “We want an army, we want police,” referring to demands that the country’s weak security forces take the place of militias.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/1-killed-as-militias-attack-libyan-protesters-demanding-end-of-out-of-control-armed-groups/2013/11/15/7f617b3a-4dff-11e3-97f6-ed8e3053083b_story.html

The clashes in Tripoli last night today have led Italian foreign minister Emma Bonino to say today that the country was “absolutely out of control”.

In the course of a wider interview given to Republicca TV, Bonino, commenting on last night’s fighting in the capital said : “Libya is absolutely out of control”. She said that just how bad the situation had become was evidenced by the fact that the Italian oil and gas firm ENI, which is the National Oil Company’s largest and longest-standing foreign partner “Is threatening to close wells”.



Read more: http://www.libyaherald.com/2013/11/08/italian-foreign-minister-libya-absolutely-out-of-control/

Libya’s prime minister has demanded that all armed militias leave Tripoli "without exception," after clashes between militiamen and armed residents left at least 27 people dead and 235 others wounded.

"The existence of weapons outside the army and police is dangerous," Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said in a speech delivered shortly after the clashes. "All armed militias need to leave Tripoli, without exception."

"The demonstration was peaceful and had been permitted by the interior ministry, and then the protesters were fired on when they entered the Gharghur district" where the militia's headquarters are located, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said in an exclusive interview with Reuters TV and the Libyan television channel Ahrar.

"There are 27 martyrs and 235 wounded," he said. However, Al Arabiya reports different figures, stating that at least 31 people were killed and 285 others wounded.

http://rt.com/news/libya-militia-kill-protesters-793/

It makes one wonder if Libya was more stable when Gaddafi was alive than it is now.

A 48-hour state of emergency has been declared in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, after a fresh wave of clashes broke out following a deadly protest against armed groups.

At least one person was killed and dozens wounded in Saturday's clashes that took place a day after more than 40 people were killed in firing by gunmen.

Saturday's gun battles broke out to the east of the capital in Tajoura, where rival gunmen clashed at checkpoints set up to stop more gunmen nearby city of Misrata from entering Tripoli, Mohammad Sasi, a local member of Libya's congress said.

Thousands of protesters gathered in the city centre to mourn those killed in Friday's attack when militias fired on a crowd urging the dissolution of unlawful armed groups.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/11/state-emergency-declared-libyan-capital-20131116221716364104.html