Right before being shot in the stomach, Ahmad al-Wahishi, a blogger and journalist who participated in the November 15 protests in Ghargour, Tripoli that turned deadly, posted on his Facebook page: “Whoever says that there are militants who targeted Gharghour and this was the reason for firing on them, does not mean that Gharghour was right. They should go back to their country to stop the bloodshed caused by all parties.”

Right before being shot in the stomach, Ahmad al-Wahishi, a blogger and journalist who participated in the November 15 protests in Ghargour, Tripoli that turned deadly, posted on his Facebook page: “Whoever says that there are militants who targeted Gharghour and this was the reason for firing on them, does not mean that Gharghour was right. They should go back to their country to stop the bloodshed caused by all parties.”

A day that started with slogans calling for fewer weapons ironically ended in over 45 gun-induced deaths and more than 400 injuries. Protestors demanded the disbanding and evacuation of armed militias and all armed formations from the capital city, in addition to the evacuation of buildings owned by the followers of the former regime, security headquarters and military camps occupied by armed groups independent of state control. Participants also called for the police and the national army to step up to their official roles, to bring the growing lawlessness in Tripoli to an end.

Clashes continue as residents of Ghargour insist that the Misrata-based militia that opened fire on protestors, leave. However, the local council of Tripoli, one of the proponents of the demonstrations, stressed that demonstrations were against all battalions in Tripoli, and that the goal was not only the Misrata Battalion, which is present in Gharghour.

Witness to a massacre

After hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the yard of Jerusalem Mosque, recalled Abdel Moez Bannon, a journalist and a human rights activist, as well as a participant in the demonstration things changed quickly as the unarmed group headed to the Gharghour area. “When the demonstrators entered the street after the airport road clinic, and the first alley on the left, shooting started immediately and medium-weapons were used against demonstrators. An old man was killed and eight people were immediately injured,” said Bannon. The demonstrators retreated and went back to Bab al-Aziziya island and a number of them were killed and others were wounded, according to Bannon.

“When news about the killing started to spread, young people of Tripoli came from all areas carrying their guns and gathered around the Gharghour area,” said Bannon.

“The first to arrive were the vehicles of Brigade 17 of the Thunderbolt Forces. Gunmen started to flock from all parts of Tripoli and they attacked Gharghour (to expel the militias). Tens of people fell dead and wounded. The saddest scene was that of a corpse of a man that was cut into two parts.”

Bannon insisted that the shooting began with the Gharghour militias.” 

Hashim Bishir, President of the Supreme Security Committee in Tripoli, made a statement saying that a unit of the criminal investigations was accompanying the demonstrators and its members were wearing civilian clothes. In its reports, the unit said that the shooting started from an unidentified place, and that the demonstrators were protesting peacefully and were unarmed.

A declaration of war

Al-Taher Bash Agha, the commander of the Central Shield Battalion, however claimed that the demonstrators were armed and started the shooting. “I, as well as other battalions, will not leave Tripoli except on their corpses,” he said on television about the protestors. “Tripoli hasn’t yet witnessed a war. Starting today, the war has begun.”

The reactions of the local, military and the Shura councils of Misrata city were not different, criticizing the head of Tripoli’s local council in a statement broadcast on Misrata satellite TV channel. They accused him of inciting demonstrators to head in the wrong direction instead of towards yards and fields, the usual places for demonstrations, claiming: “There is a conspiracy which was planned in the dark.” 

Remnants of independence

The area of Gharghour is considered one of Tripoli’s most luxurious neighborhoods in Tripoli, boasting impressive villas once inhabited by the symbols of the former regime, including Saif Gaddafi, Abdullah Senussi, Baghdadi Mahmudi and others, because it is considered a secure area given its location near the Bab al-Aziziya camp, the headquarters of the Gaddafi regime leadership.

After the revolution, battalions from Misrata seized control of these villas, living in them and making them their military headquarters. Today, they refuse to neither leave the villas nor hand them back to the state.

Involving Misrata

Abdel Basset Abu Muzaireq, a lawyer from the city of Misrata and one of the symbols of the revolution, disagreed with the views of his hometown councils when he said: “How can anyone who claims to be a democratic person, and who calls for the creation of a democratic state accept to represent his city and speak on its behalf without having an authorization from the people of his city, an authorization given to him through a correct democratic process. Shura councils, senates, and most of the local councils are not elected, Misrata is a clear example.”

Double standards

In its statement, the government confirmed that the demonstration, which came out after Friday prayers in Tripoli, obtained a license from the Interior Ministry. Prime Minister Ali Zeidan blamed “some intellectuals, politicians and media people who were leading the scene, inciting people and stirring them. This was the reason why things reached such limits.”  The prime minister had previously called upon ordinary citizens to do whatever they could to stop militias from controlling oil ports.

Balance of terror

Mahmoud Shammam, a writer and a journalist, warned of the presence of the Mitiga brigade which he describes as “abiding only by the fatwas of the mufti and not from order of the Chief of Staff and the operations room of Libya’s rebels. It was asked by the President of the Tripoli Local Council to maintain the security of the city, and was previously accused of kidnapping the Prime Minister.

“The real danger is the use of the protesters’ demands to make one militia win over the other and this would mean that the balance of horror governing Tripoli is on its way to disappear.  If this balance is not maintained, then the country will be threatened by a civil war.”