Another hard man

AS THE weak elected government in Tripoli proves unable to assert its authority over a proliferation of unruly militias, two camps are emerging. Broadly speaking, one represents Islamist factions of varied stripes, from hardened jihadists to suit-and-tie-wearing businessmen. The other unites a range of anti-Islamist nationalists, federalists and tribal militias, including rump elements of the Qaddafi-era national army. At the head of this loose nationalist alliance is a retired general, Khalifa Haftar, who defected from Qaddafi in the 1980s and spent years in America, where he is often said to have co-operated with the CIA.

Rising tension between the clashing visions of the two camps burst into open fighting on May 16th, when the anti-Islamist faction launched ground and air attacks on Islamist militia bases in Benghazi, eastern Libya’s main city, leaving around 70 people dead. Two days later, allied militias ransacked the headquarters in Tripoli of the Islamist-dominated national congress, Libya’s proto-parliament, killing two and leaving dozens injured. The fighting has since sputtered into sporadic skirmishes.