BENGHAZI, libya — Residents of Libya’s second-largest city warned Saturday of a “revolution” to get rid of armed militias and Islamic extremists after protests spurred in part by the killing of the U.S. ambassador left four dead in an unprecedented eruption of public frustration.
In a sign of how weak the country’s post-Moammar Khadafy leadership remains, authorities tried to stem popular anger, pleading that some of the militias are needed to keep the country safe because the police and army are incapable of doing so.
A mass protest Friday against militias against the compounds of several armed groups in Benghazi lasted into early Saturday, as thousands stormed the headquarters of Ansar al-Shariah, an Islamic extremist group suspected in the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate.
They drove out the Ansar gunmen and set fire to cars in the compound — once a major base for Khadafy’s feared security forces — and then moved onto the base of a second Islamist militia, the Rafallah Sahati Brigade. Brigade fighters opened fire to keep the protesters at bay.
The state news agency said four protesters were killed and 70 injured in the violence.
There were no new protests Saturday, but the city of 1 million in eastern Libya was brimming with anger, rumors and conspiracy theories.
The bodies of six soldiers were found in the morning dumped on the outskirts of the city, shot in the head and their hands cuffed, state TV reported. An army colonel was reported missing, feared kidnapped.
Some militiamen accused Khadafy loyalists of fueling the protests. Some media reports accused militiamen of taking revenge on Khadafy-era veterans in the military, while military spokesman Ali al-Shakhli blamed Khadafy loyalists.
Backers of the ousted regime continue to hold sway in some parts of the country, particularly the western city of Bani Walid and parts of the deep south. Khadafy loyalists near the southern town of Barek al-Shati have been clashing with a pro-government militia for several days, killing nearly 20, and abducted 30 militiamen from a bus, said Essam al-Katous, a senior security official.
Since Khadafy’s ouster and death about a year ago, a series of interim leaders have struggled to build the state from scratch and bring order to a country that was eviscerated under his 42-year regime, with security forces and the military intentionally kept weak and government institutions hollowed of authority.
The militias, which arose as people took up arms to fight Khadafy during last year’s eight-month civil war, bristle with heavy weapons, pay little attention to national authorities and are accused by some of acting like gangs, carrying out killings. Islamist militias often push their demands for enforcement of strict Shariah law.
Yet, authorities need them. The Rafallah Sahati Brigade kept security in Benghazi during national elections this year. Its compound, once a Khadafy residence, contains a prison and protects a large collection of seized weapons. Ansar al-Shariah guards Benghazi’s main Jalaa Hospital, putting a stop to frequent attacks by gunmen.
On Saturday morning, armed Rafallah Sahati militiamen — weary from the clashes the night before — guarded the entrance to their compound, standing next to charred cars. The fighters, some in military uniforms, others dressed in Afghan Mujahedeen-style outfits, were indignant.
“Those you call protesters are looters and thieves,” said Nour Eddin al-Haddad, a young man with an automatic rifle slung on his back. “We fought for the revolution. We are the real revolutionaries.”
The government has brought some militias nominally under the authority of the military or Interior Ministry, but even those retain separate commanders and often are only superficially subordinate to the state. In an attempt to assuage public anger and show renegades are being brought under control, some of those “legitimate” militiamen were installed at some militia compounds around Benghazi on Saturday.
By Saturday afternoon, the Rafallah Sahati Brigade headquarters was being guarded by members of another “legitimate” militia from the western city of Zawiya.
Activists and protesters, however, say the militias must disband and their fighters individually be integrated into the army and security forces.
Protesters said in a statement they would return to the streets Friday if they still see militias operating.
If the government doesn’t act, “there will be a second revolution and the spark will be Benghazi,” said lawyer Ibrahim al-Aribi. “We want stability and rule of law so we can start building the state, but the Tripoli government appears to have not yet quite understood people’s demands.”
Farag Akwash, a 22-year-old protester wounded in the arm during the night’s clashes, insisted, “We don’t want to see militias in the city anymore.”
Developments
Bangladesh: Scores of people were injured Saturday in clashes in Bangladesh’s capital between police and hundreds of demonstrators. Police fired tear gas and used batons to disperse stone-throwing protesters, who were from about a dozen Islamic groups. The protesters burned several vehicles, including a police van, witnesses said. The clash erupted when authorities attempted to halt a demonstration, police said. Authorities have banned all protests near the city’s main Baitul Mokarram mosque since Friday, when more than 2,000 people marched and burned an effigy of President Barack Obama. The protesters announced a nationwide general strike Sunday to protest the police action.
Pakistan: After more than 20 people died Friday in clashes in cities throughout the country, a Cabinet minister offered a $100,000 reward for the death of the filmmaker behind the anti-Islam “Innocence of Muslims.” Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmad Balor said he would pay the reward out of his own pocket. He urged the Taliban and al-Qaeda to perform the “sacred duty” of helping find and kill the filmmaker.
Protests continued Saturday, with more than 1,500 people, including women and children, rallying in the capital, Islamabad. The crowd was peaceful but angry over the release of the film, which portrays Prophet Muhammad as a fraud, a womanizer and a child molester.
Nigeria: Thousands of people also protested Saturday in Nigeria’s largest city, Kano. The crowd marched from a mosque to the palace of the Emir of Kano, the region’s top spiritual leader for Muslims.
Turkey: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the recent violent protests but said Western nations need to prevent insults to Islam.
“No one claims freedom of expression when they restrict racism. The same restrictions that are imposed on racism must be displayed against Islamophobia,” Erdogan said Saturday. “Islamophobia is as dangerous as racism and is something that must not be tolerated.”
France: A French court has convicted a man for carrying a weapon at an illegal demonstration in front of the U.S. Embassy protesting a video that protesting Muslims say insulted the Prophet Muhammad. The 24-year-old convert to Islam was sentenced to three months in prison.
Saturday’s ruling came hours after police detained a man in the western city of La Rochelle suspected of threatening to decapitate the editor of a French satirical weekly that published lewd caricatures of the prophet Wednesday.
Denver Post wire services
