Misrata terrorist militia topple Tripoli city leaders in blow to Libya 'unity' plan

Arwa Ibrahim
Middle East Eye
Wed, 22 Mar 2017 19:10 UTC

© Agence France-Presse

A Libyan national flag is seen through a hole in a destroyed building on Tripoli street in Misrata

Misrata Military Council kicks out municipal officials amid rivalry between 'moderates' and 'hardliners' in city

A group of Misrata-based militias announced on Tuesday that it had taken over the city's elected municipal council, as simmering tensions boiled over between factions within the umbrella of the country's "unity government".

In a statement published on behalf of the Misrata Military Council (MMC) and its allied militias - the Union of Revolutionary Fighters (URF) and the Misrata Security Department - MMC chief Ibrahim Bin Rajab announced the group had overthrown the municipal council after it refused to negotiate with protestors over its management of the city.

"A committee was set up to mediate between the protesters and the municipal council, but the latter refused to meet with the committee without giving any justifications," the Libya Observer reported the statement as reading.

Demonstrations against the council were reportedly sparked by its decision to send Hassan Shaba, a former ally of Muammar Gaddafi, and Misrata mayor Mohammed Eshtaiwi to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with rival militias in the capital, Tripoli, after four days of fighting there.

The powerful MMC had recently fought in the capital against other rival groups, including men loyal to the former prime minister Khalifa al-Ghwell, who opposes the unity government. Many of Ghwell's loyalists are themselves Misratan.

The ceasefire to end those clashes, brokered by the UN-backed Presidency Council (PC), was signed on 16 March.

According to Bin Rajab, Misrata's institutions will continue to function but will sever contact with the council's members. A new steering committee is expected to be selected in place of the council until new elections are held, reported Libyan media on Tuesday.

Internal divisions

The developments in Misrata come amid ongoing rivalry between "moderate" forces represented by Mayor Eshtaiwi and "hardliners" siding with the MMC and its leader Bin Rajab.

National politicians and city councillors had warned on Monday of growing divisions between moderates and hardliners in the city, after Misrata's TV and the local radio station were attacked on Sunday night by unidentified militants.

Meanwhile the renegade general Khalifa Haftar, another opponent of the Tripoli unity government with a powerbase in Benghazi, has sent forces to face Misratan militias in the south and centre of Libya.

"It's clear they [mayor Eshtaiwi and the council] have come under heavy pressure from part of the population and the military council," European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) expert on Libya, Mattia Toaldo, told Middle East Eye.

He said Eshtaiwi was caught between two fires: pressure from Haftar, and Misratans unhappy over the crackdown on Ghwell in Tripoli.

Sources on the ground have said that while a "municipal coup" might be under way, council members are still in their positions and yet to step down.

Council members also issued a statement saying that they "rejected the intervention of military council members in civil issues", reported Alarbiya news on Wednesday.

"Anti-Haftar feelings in Misrata and in Tripoli have hardened," said Toaldo.

"Should the mayor remain in place, the upheaval of these days will anyway have national consequences," he added.

On 30 January MMC announced that all militias operating under its control had joined the Central Military Zone of the Libyan Army, a group of forces based in west Libya which supports the PC against the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Hafter.

Many, although not all of the units under the control of the MMC formed the major part of the Bunyan Marsous operations (BM) which took control of Sirte from Islamic State militants in December. According to Toaldo, regardless of how things develop, the upheaval in Misrata will likely push people further away from Haftar.

"A destabilised Misrata will be less willing to compromise both with Haftar and with other actors across Libya," said Toaldo.

"Ultimately, what is happening in Misrata could be yet another stumbling block to the political solution to the conflict."

Comment: Sputnik reports:

The self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Gen. Khalifa Haftar has launched an offensive against illegal armed groups on the south of the country, local media reported Tuesday, citing a source in the LNA.

The operation is aimed at gaining control over the cities of Sabha and al Shatii, the Akhbar Libya news portal reported. The LNA reportedly managed to block the militants' troops from the city of Misrata and take control over an air base.

And as usual, ordinary citizens suffer. From the Moriarty's Lybia War: The Truth blog:

Today the criminals who call themselves "Misurata Militias" began to go door to door in Tripoli. They forced their way into people's homes and took what ever they wanted.

The Misurata Militias are the groups that were supported and armed by Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Obama and others. They are made up of some of the 4% of Libyans that are radicals and other mercenaries. They are now being supported (illegally) by Qatar and Turkey. This is the only way that they can survive as they are now the most hated group of criminals in Libya today.

They have become quite desperate because they realize the Libyan people will never support them, so they have turned to doing as much damage as they possibly can to the innocent Libyan people. Not that they have not done this in the past, the list is endless of their crimes against humanity but the New World Order cabal wanted Libya, and anything that happened to the Libyan people in their theft of the country was just "acceptable collateral damage". No NATO to the rescue, no UN, no ICC crimes against humanity charges - nothing. People in Libya have been imprisoned, tortured, stolen from, homes and families destroyed, starved, had schools and hospitals destroyed - the list goes on and on. Just the war crimes committed in Libya in 2011 and later are so heinous that even Hitler would feel ashamed - AND - this is the 21st century.

Do not think for one minute that humanity has evolved past war crimes, if anything they are even more horrible than they were 70 years ago. But, now we have technology to hide and bury these atrocities so the criminal bankers, Khazarian mafia, New World Order criminals have been give free reign and the results are staggering.

The people in Tripoli are crying for help tonight, but their cries fall on deaf ears. There is no media allowed in Libya, there are no police or law enforcement officers, there is no help. The tribes tell me, if anyone is caught taking a photo or sending a text about these crimes they will be taken to one of the many illegal prisons run by these militias. In the end they most likely will not survive.

This is the result of LIES, lies about the Arab Spring, lies about a Libyan revolution, lies about a no fly zone, lies about Libya's great leader, Ghadafi and so many more. The result was the manipulation of criminal acts against a small sovereign nation that was happy and prosperous. The destruction of lives, infrastructure, families and most of all the attempted destruction of a precious - one of a kind - ancient culture.