Since the fall of the Qaddafi government in mid-October Tripoli has been plagued by armed militias roaming the streets looting, kidnapping and getting into gun battles with each other and local residents. By last Tuesday (6/12/11) the National Transitional Council (NTC) had lost patience and the Prime Minister, Abdurrahim al-Keib gave the militias until December 20th (14 days) to leave the city. By Wednesday the Libyan National Army (LNA) under the command of General Khalifa Hifter had begun to encourage the militias to leave by setting up road blocks and checkpoints to search vehicles and seize weapons.
One militia in particular - the Zintan Brigade - seem to have no intention of complying with the governments instructions. During the fall of Tripoli in August they quickly moved to seize control of the city's international airport in order to control who and what moved though the airport and solicit bribes. Obviously this is no way to run an airport let alone a country so on Sunday (11/12/11) the LNA moved in to take over airport security. The Zintan Brigade violently resisted leading to a lengthy gun battle that left one dead. There now exists a tense stand off while the NTC negotiate with the Zintan Brigade in order to allow the airport to come back under government control.
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