Rebel Libyan general vows to rid country of Islamists

A maverick general led attacks in Benghazi in Libya and a subsequent armed assault on the parliament in Tripoli point to a battle for supremacy between Libya's main Islamist camp and rival groups, The Christian Science Monitor reported.

Following the overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011, the country had failed to set up a stable democratic government. The interim parliament, the General National Congress (GNC) elected in 2012, proved to be largely dysfunctional with two prime ministers failing to win confidence votes.  The resulting turmoil has seen myriad local militias take over parts of the country.

Forces led by retired general and former rebel leader Khalifa Haftar, on Friday, launched attacks on hardline Islamist militias operating with impunity in eastern Bengazi.

The government denounced the attacks as amounting to a coup, but according to Haftar, he was taking it upon himself to rid the city of violent groups only because the government had failed to do so.

On Sunday, the GNC's meeting hall was attacked by gunmen, but the identity of the attackers remained unclear. While Haftar's forces, calling themselves the ''Libyan National Army,'' claimed credit and demanded that the GNC stand down, unconfirmed reports also credited the attacks to powerful militias from Zintan, a city southwest of Tripoli.

Meanwhile, a Libyan air force base in the eastern city of Tobruk said Monday it was allying with Haftar, who had promised to purge the country of Islamist militants, Reuters reported.

According to a statement from the air base, its personnel wanted to fight what it called extremists, echoing Haftar. "The Tobruk air force base will join...the army under the command of General Khalifa Qassim Haftar," the statement said. The authenticity of the statement was confirmed by staff at the air base.

The development at the Tobruk air base was significant as the measure of support for Haftar's men within the country's nascent regular armed forces and the powerful brigades of former rebels who had toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 was not known.

According to commentators, an alliance of militias lining up against Islamist groups threatened to deepen chaos in the OPEC oil producer.

Haftar, a one-time Gaddafi ally turned against him the 1980s over the war in Chad.

Haftar has accused the country's interim authorities of failing to restore order and had called on the GNC to cede its role to a constitutional drafting committee elected in February.

It is not clear at the moment, what measure of support Haftar enjoys with Libya's fledgling armed forces or the country's militias. In a television appearance in February he had called on the GNC to step down, triggering brief fears of a coup that did not materialise.

However, according to commentators his criticism might strike a chord with Libyans frustrated with the continuing violence.