Libyan Government Sends Troops to troubled region

Following frequent clashes between militias and tribal factions Libya's National Transititional Council (NTC) has deployed troops in the west of the country in Zintan,Mizdah and Shegayga and declared the area which is 150 km from Tripoli, a military zone.The current violence in the area comes just weeks before elections which have already ben postponed.

Whether this new move will be successful in pacifying the warring militias and tribes has yet to be seen. The NTC government has tried to disarm militias but for the most part this failed and efforts to absorb them into the police and armed services has had limited success. The current situation has prevented  the NTC from being able to establish an effective central government and will leave the new incoming government with a major challenge to establish itself and ensure that its rule holds sway.

The Zintan Brigade in particular has been highly indepenedent of government control and is still holding Saif ul- Islam and refusing to hand him over to central government.

It is also holding 4 ICC members who came to see Saif ul- Islam. Calls for federalism in Benghazi and the other parts of the East of Libya increase the disaray which could threaten the future unity of Libya.With the crisis in the Sahel and Northern Mali the free flow of weapons from Libyan weapons arsenals continues to affect the stability of the region.