Party’s Over: Tripoli Residents Sick of Rebel Troops

New Tripoli Council Urges Rebels to 'Get a Handle' on Troops

The rebel conquest of the Libyan capital of Tripoli was portrayed as a watershed moment in the civil war, with celebrations in the streets as the Gadhafi regime was finally removed and locals reveled in their new-found freedom.

Fast forward a month, however, and the Tripoli locals are just plain sick of hearing gunfire and watching the various factions of rebel fighters milling about in the streets occasionally hassling passers-by.

A new local council has even formed, calling itself the Tripoli Support Group, to petition the Benghazi-based rebel government to “get a handle” on the assorted fighters, who seemingly have the run of the capital and answer to no one.

The reality, of course, is that the National Transitional Council (NTC) has been trying to centralize control over the fighters for awhile, unsuccessfully, and with the council embroiled in an internal faction fight the rebel forces really don’t answer to anyone.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.