Middle East Today: Libya --- Armed Groups Increase Pressure on Government

Libya:Armed Groups Form Alliance to Pressure Government

Armed groups surrounding two ministries in Tripoli have formed an alliance with a list of six demands including the resignation of Prime Minister Ali Zeidan.

The groups initially demanded that Parliament pass the "political isolation law" banning from public service any senior official who held a position under the ousted Qaddafi regime.

They presented the expanded list of demands to Reuters late Wednesday. The conditions include the freezing of a recently-released state budget and the right to form a committee to take charge of the Foreign Ministry.

Meanwhile, a rival coalition that said it supported the Government warned gunmen at the ministries it was prepared to use force to dislodge them.

"If you do not respond to our demands, we will form a common national force from all the cities of Libya to handle this situation," the coalition, including federalists in eastern Cyrenaica and leaders of former insurgent groups, said.

Prime Minister Zeidan promised the Government would pursue the plans to bar anyone who held a senior position under Qaddafi and said some ministers would have to be replaced under legislation passed on Sunday.

Zeidan also defended the armed groups, saying they had a right to express their views as they saw fit: "We don't have militias in Libya, we have revolutionaries."

The Prime Minister also denied that Parliament had bowed to the pressure of gunmen, insisting the new law was necessary to protect the ideals of the revolution.

The Government's Joint Security Force claimed it cleared irregular brigades from 56 buildings across Tripoli, including militia from the capital, Kikla, Zintan, and Ghariyan.

The force, a joint initiative of Ministries of Interior and Defence, was formed six weeks ago. It says it is still waiting for authorisation from the Attorney General to clear a further 15 buildings in the capital’s Garghour district but that the authorities have so far declined, citing sensitivities because of the brigades --- all from Misurata --- involved.