people and injuring 500.[2]

This
led to more protests. The Tripoli local council called a general strike,
initially intended to last three days.[3]

The
militias agreed to withdraw from Tripoli, and Libya’s Prime Minister Ali Zeidan
called for an end to the strike. However there were reports that some of the
militias had merely moved to locations on the outskirts of the city, waiting to
return when protests died down.

University
students and staff met and voted to continue the strike. The Tripoli local
council also called for the strike to continue.[4]

The
strike lasted for two weeks. It ended on November 30 after the government had
promised to ensure that all militias were withdrawn from the capital.[5]

There
have also been anti-militia protests in many other towns. In Benghazi and Derna
the main target of the protests has been an Islamist militia called Ansar
al-Sharia.

History

Most
ofthe militias were formed in 2011 during the war to overthrow the regime of
Muammar Gaddafi.

Gaddafi
had come to power in a military coup in 1969. In the early years of his rule he
was a radical Arab nationalist, evicting a United States air base from Libya
and nationalising the oil industry.

Gaddafi
used Libya’s oil revenue to create a welfare state. Health and education were
greatly improved and life expectancy rose from 51 to 74 years.[6]

For
a long time the Western powers were very hostile to Gaddafi. The US attempted
to kill him by bombing his Tripoli compound in 1986. The Western powers
also imposed economic sanctions on Libya and supported attempts by Gaddafi’s
opponents to overthrow him.

The sanctions caused considerable difficulties for Libya,
and Gaddafi made big concessions in an effort to end them. The pretext for the
sanctions