Is Libya Sliding Toward Civil War?

Correspondents report that Tripoli today is a patchwork of fiefdoms held by rival militias that arrived in the capital months ago to chase out Qaddafi and have since refused to leave. Each of the militias appears to believe that its power to influence the future course of Libyan politics depends on maintaining an armed presence in Tripoli. Two of the militias are homegrown groups from Tripoli itself. One is led by Abdel Hakim Belhadj, an Islamist who spent time in Taliban camps and is the NTC-backed military council commander in the capital. The other is led by Abdullah Naker, a former electronics engineer who is openly critical of Belhadj. But there also militias from outside. There is one from Misurata, east of Tripoli; another from Zintan, southwest of the capital; another from the east of Libya; and another representing the country's Berber minority. All maintain territories and checkpoints, with their presence increasing after nightfall. Correspondents say the fighting usually breaks out when members of one militia try to cross through territory of another while refusing to disarm. It is just that kind of dispute that is believed to have led to this week's fighting, when fighters from Belhadj's military council detained a member of the Misurata militia.

Is Libya Sliding Toward Civil War?