Weeks needed to disband militias: Libya defence chief

“I think this issue will be resolved in a month-and-a-half, approximately. I’m not setting any deadlines,” Al-Juwali said in an interview with Reuters.
Two months after Gaddafi was captured and killed, real power resides with the militias that ousted him and have since carved up the country and capital into competing fiefdoms, each holding out for the share of power they say they are owed.

Turf wars risk spiralling out of control.
Al-Juwali was endorsed by Libya’s National Transitional Council as defence minister in November, thanks largely to the clout wielded by the rebels he commanded in the western mountain town of Zintan.
The Zintan fighters played a major role in the fall of Tripoli. They now control the international airport and the fate of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the ousted leader’s most prominent son, who was captured by Zintan fighters on November 19.

Without a fully-functioning army or police, Libya’s interim government is struggling to stamp its authority on the oil-producing North African country.
Senior officials, including commanders of the nascent army, have called on the gun-toting militias to return to their homes, and the council in Tripoli has set a deadline of end-December.
Zintan fighters have already fought gun battles with the commander of Libyan ground forces and his sons. The army spokesman blamed “rogue militias” and said they would “clear the city of weapons.”

But Al-Juwali conveyed no sense of urgency. He said the government was working on a plan, but provided few specifics.
“There is a general plan to bring the fighters in,” he said.
“Part of them will join the defence ministry, others the interior ministry. There is another plan at the Ministry of Labour to rehabilitate and train these fighters, and I think this plan will be approved soon.”

He spoke in the offices he shares with Prime Minister Abdurrahim El-Keib.
Zintan fighters filled the corridors. The man who piloted the Antonov that brought Saif al-Islam Gaddafi from the desert where he was caught to his cell in Zintan had swapped his green flight fatigues for a sharp, black suit.

“I think the army will be ready to take on its responsibilities before the end of the transitional government,” said Al-Juwali. The interim government is due to rule until an election mid-next year. — Reuters.