Libya clashes point to growing power of Turkey-allied PM Dbeibah
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The killing of a powerful militia leader in the Libyan capital on Monday night sparked hours of intense clashes that drove his group from its main stronghold and may prompt a consolidation of power among armed factions aligned with the Tripoli government.
The death of Abdulghani Kikli, a militia leader who had controlled swathes of Tripoli for years, could also have repercussions for the stability of the wider region.
Major energy exporter Libya, long split between rival eastern and western factions, is a jumping off point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean and a battleground for rival regional powers, drawing in Russia, Turkey, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
Following Kikli's death, the government of national unity (GNU) announced the completion of a security operation against what Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah called irregular armed groups.
Gunmen loyal to Kikli, widely known by his nickname Ghaniwa, ran prisons and occupied government ministries and financial institutions.
"Ghaniwa was de facto king of Tripoli. His henchmen controlled the internal security agency. Other henchmen controlled the distribution of cash transfers from the central bank. They controlled numerous public companies and ministries," said Tarek Megerisi of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Consolidation of power in Tripoli would strengthen Turkish ally Dbeibah and the GNU after repeated attempts to replace him by force over recent years while bolstering his position in an overarching rivalry with eastern Libya factions.
Late on Monday, after rising tension between armed factions, pictures circulated online showing Kikli's blood-smeared body with a handgun lying by his hand.
Reuters could not verify the circumstances of Kikli's death or confirm the veracity of the pictures showing his body, but his face was widely recognised and fighting erupted across Tripoli soon after they circulated.
Factions under Dbeibah's GNU rapidly seized territory and bases long held by Kikli's Security Stabilisation Apparatus (SSA) group, including the Abu Salim district, its old powerbase.
With Kikli's downfall, factions that come under the Defence Ministry and are aligned with Dbeibah, principally the 444 Brigade under Mahmoud Hamza, the 111 Brigade and the Joint Force from Misrata, may gain a bigger role.
Consolidation by Dbeibah allies could result in Western Libya starting to more closely resemble the east, where commander Khalifa Haftar seized control a decade ago after eliminating rivals and forcing other groups under his sway.
"This paves the way for unprecedented levels of territorial consolidation in Tripoli and an increasingly smaller number of groups," said Emad Badi, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council.
Fragmentation
Libya's energy facilities are mostly located in areas controlled by Haftar and Monday night's clashes seem unlikely to impact output.
Tripoli was calm on Tuesday, witnesses said, while fighters from the 444 and 111 Brigades were visible on Tuesday morning around the city centre and at the SSA's former Abu Salim headquarters, where its insignia had been erased.
Fighters from a group allied to the SSA had meanwhile disappeared from the area around the Central Bank of Libya, which they had controlled security access to since last year.
Libya has had little peace since a 2011 uprising against long-time autocrat Muammar Gaddafi and it split in 2014 between warring eastern and western factions. While Haftar unified groups in the east, control in Tripoli in the west remained splintered among rival armed groups.
Dbeibah was installed as prime minister in 2021 as part of a U.N.-backed process aimed at holding elections later that year. But the election process collapsed and he remains in power, though challenged by an eastern-based parliament.
Several efforts to replace him by force failed after clashes in Tripoli, and two years ago groups aligned with him ousted another major armed group, the Nawasi militia.
"Dbeibah has been a frustrated leader who had to cohabit with challengers inside Tripoli. He's sending a message he's not going anywhere and Haftar should respect him," said Jalel Harchaoui of the Royal United Services Institute.
The main remaining Tripoli armed faction seen as not closely aligned with Dbeibah is the Security Deterrence Force, widely known as Rada, which controls the main Mitiga Airport and other parts of the city centre.
Kikli was a baker in 2011 when the Arab Spring sparked the uprising against Gaddafi and he rallied neighbours in his Abu Salim district to take over a local army barracks.
As Libya fragmented, Kikli and his expanding group emerged as one of the most powerful of the country's warring armed factions, holding strategically valuable positions around Tripoli and seizing state institutions.
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