Libyans are celebrating, two years after the start of their uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, as the country's fledgling government deals with security failures and unrest in the east.

Demonstrations began Friday to commemorate the arrest of a human rights lawyer that kindled the unrest, ahead of the actual second anniversary yesterday.

In October 2011, after eight months of war between rebel militias and Gaddafi's forces, the tyrant was found hiding in a storm drain and killed.

Libya has yet to disarm many of the rival militias and recent attacks on diplomats and police in the eastern city of Benghazi have shaken the country.

A former member of the transition government says there is a lot of work to be done to prevent civil war.

In Benghazi, the base of rebel groups seeking autonomy for eastern Libya, leaders, fearing violence, cancelled a planned protest rally on Friday.

Other groups are urging people onto the streets to voice discontent with the government and demand better security and investment for Libya's second-largest city.

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