Troops deploy in Libya capital as militias ordered out

Troops deployed in Tripoli today after militias were ordered to leave the capital following deady weekend clashes sparked by protest against the former rebels in Libya's 2011 revolt.
The unrest in Tripoli was the deadliest in the capital since the uprising and erupted when former rebels from Misrata opened fire on protesters, triggering the clashes that killed at least 43 people and wounded 450.
As the capital observed a three-day period of mourning yesterday, gunmen had seized the deputy head of Libya's intelligence services Mustafa Nuh near Tripoli airport.
But his abductors released him today, an intelligence official told AFP.

"Nuh has been freed today," the source said on condition of anonymity, without elaborating.
The abduction of Nuh, who is himself originally from Misrata, came amid persistent tensions between armed groups from his hometown and rival groups in Tripoli.

Yesterday, community leaders, officials and former rebel commanders from Misrata urged the "withdrawal of all ex-rebels from the city of Misrata who are in Tripoli, whatever their group is ... In under 72 hours," in a statement issued late yesterday.
In the streets of the capital itself, dozens of soldiers and armoured vehicles deployed today in response to the violence.
"A number of units of the national army are about to enter the city of Tripoli from several areas in order to secure it," the government said in a statement.

The Misrata brigade at the heart of the latest violence saw some of the heaviest fighting during the uprising against Gaddafi, when Misrata was besieged by regime forces.
While such groups were initially hailed as heroes for their role in toppling the Gaddafi regime in 2011, public frustration with militias has been growing.
Many groups have rejected government calls to lay down their arms or integrate into the armed forces, instead carving out their own fiefdoms across the vast mostly-desert country.
Demonstrators protesting against militias on Friday in Tripoli's Gharghour neighbourhood were fired upon from villas occupied by the fighters from Misrata, who killed several protesters before rival militias swept in, sparking clashes that continued until Saturday.

In response to the bloodshed, Tripoli's city council had called a three-day general strike, and today many shops and businesses were closed around the capital, an AFP journalist said.
Universities in Tripoli today announced they would close for the week.