Libyan protesters holding placards during a march against hardline Islamists in Benghazi, Libya, yesterday. Hundreds of protesters forced members of a hardline Islamist militia out of their base in Benghazi, setting fire to and wrecking the military compound.
BENGHAZI, Libya: An Islamist militia was driven out of the city of Benghazi early yesterday in a surge of anger against the armed groups that control large parts of Libya more than a year after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi.
A spokesman for Ansar Al Sharia, which some US and Libya officials blame for the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi last week in which the US ambassador and three other Americans were killed, said it had evacuated its bases “to preserve security in the city”.
In a dramatic sign of Libya’s fragility, after sweeping through Ansar’s bases the crowd went on to attack a pro-government militia, believing them to be Islamists, triggering an armed response in which at least 11 people were killed and more than 60 wounded.
The invasion of Ansar
Al Sharia’s compounds, which met little resistance, appeared to be part of a sweep of militia bases by police, troops and activists following a large demonstration against militia units in Benghazi on Friday.
Demonstrators pulled down militia flags and set a vehicle on fire inside what was once the base of Gaddafi’s security forces.
Hundreds of men waving swords and even a meat cleaver chanted “Libya, Libya”, “No more Al Qaeda!” and “The blood we shed for freedom shall not go
in vain!”
“After what happened at the American consulate, the people of Benghazi had enough of the extremists,” demonstrator Hassan Ahmed said. “They did not give allegiance to the army. So the people broke in and they fled.
“This place is like the Bastille. This is where Gaddafi controlled Libya from, and then Ansar Al Sharia took it over. This is a turning point for the people of Benghazi.”
Adusalam Al Tarhouni, a government worker who arrived with the first wave of protesters, said several pickup trucks with Ansar fighters had initially confronted the protesters and opened fire. Two protesters were shot in the leg, he said. “After that they got into their trucks and drove away,” he said. Protesters had freed four prisoners found inside.
REUTERS
