Pomegranate | Libya

Things fall apart

A former general goes rogue in Benghazi

By C.S. | TRIPOLI

ON MAY 17th Libya declared a no-fly zone aimed at parts of its own air force after units loyal to a renegade former general carried out an assault in the eastern city of Benghazi. Sections of the army and the air force joined them to attack state-funded militias that they deem terrorists, but which the central government calls "revolutionaries". Health ministry officials say 70 people died in the most intensive fighting since the 2011 civil war.

Heading the rogue force is Khalifa Hiftar, a former general who led rebel units in the uprising against Muammar Qaddafi. He has emerged as the loudest critic of Libya's new rulers. In February he appeared on television, wearing a uniform festooned with medals, to accuse the national congress, Libya’s proto-parliament, of being dominated by Islamists and call for its replacement by an ill-defined commission. Since then he has been gathering support among disaffected elements of the armed forces, notably the air force. On the morning of May 16th he took action.

Jets and helicopters under his command pounded militia bases in Benghazi and fighting raged. Units of the special forces joined Mr Hiftar even as their commanders professed to be neutral. Elsewhere in eastern Libya, some army units and tribal militias leapt into action, mainly to carry out score-settling against Islamists whom they blame for a wave of assassinations over the past two years. In Tripoli, the capital, a Zintan militia allied with Mr Hiftar attacked a militia base in the city’s suburbs.

The government, weak and caught on the hoof, denounced the operation as a “coup”. Abdullah al-Thinni, the acting prime minister, called Mr Hiftar’s forces “outlaws”. But the authorities' later declaration of a no-fly zone for Benghazi, believed to be the first time a state has made such an order against its own air force, went ignored. Hours later air force jets bombed the Benghazi-based radio station of Ansar al-Sharia, a militia blamed by America for the killing of its ambassador in the city in 2012.

Libya's new authorities are struggling to control the country. Opponents claim the election earlier this month of Ahmed Maiteeg, a businessman, as the new prime minister was fraudulent. Mr Maiteeg and his cabinet have yet to take office. The trigger for Mr Hiftar’s attack is unclear. But it came days after an intelligence chief was assassinated in Benghazi and after Jordan’s ambassador was released by kidnappers in Tripoli, apparently in exchange for a Libyan jailed in Amman for terrorist offences.

Libya's neighbours and allies are rattled. Tunisia has sent 5,000 troops to its border with Libya. Algerian special forces flew into Tripoli to evacuate their ambassador. Days earlier, the Pentagon had announced the deployment of 200 marines and vertical takeoff aircraft in Sicily as a contingency measure.

Mr Hiftar, who served as a general under Qaddafi before deserting and leaving to America in the 1980s, insists his attacks have support. He has vowed to crush the militias he describes as “terrorists”. Much will depend on whether his forces gain support among a public weary of three years of stagnation and violence.

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