to have freed themselves continue to man their own checkpoints and
barricades long after the fighting has moved on. Their purpose, they say, is to
guard against pockets of [Gaddafi] loyalists, but few doubt that they also
intend to keep out incoming anti-Gaddafi fighters. Inside these enclaves, the
neighborhood councils hold sway, reestablishing civilian life in the name of
the NTC, but with little if any actual contact with it.[12]

Meanwhile
resistance by pro-Gaddafi forces continued in some cities such as Sirte and
Bani Walid for a few months. Gaddafi was captured and murdered near Sirte on
October 20.

The
new regime

The NTC acted as an interim legislative body
until July 2012, when elections were held for a new 200-member legislative
assembly called the General National Congress. Elections were also held for
local government bodies.

Limitations
on democracy included the continuing detention without trialthe central
government and the local elite of the area in which the militia is based.

The
government has begun to build a new army and police force. Militia members can
apply to join, but have to do so as individuals, not as a group. Progress in
building the new army is slow.

Because
the new army remains weak, the government still sometimes has to use militias
to suppress dissent.

Misrata

The
most powerful militia is that which is based in Misrata, Libya’s third-largest
city.

According
to Juan Cole, it has more arms than the central government:

Misrata is a vast
arms depot, with tanks, rocket propelled grenades and other arms stockpiled in
such numbers as to dwarf the armaments of the central government. Much of the
equipment was conquered from Gaddafi’s forces, but some was sent during the
fighting of 2011 by Qatar.[13]

The
Misrata militia has often