Thousands of Libyans marched in Benghazi yesterday in support of democracy and against the Islamist militias that Washington blames for an attack on the US consulate last week that killed four Americans including the ambassador.
The “Rescue Benghazi day” demonstration called for the government to disband armed groups that have refused to give up their weapons since the Nato-backed revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi last year.
Marchers headed for a main square where a much smaller counter demonstration of hundreds of supporters of hardline Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia were waiting.
“It’s obvious that this protest is against the militias. All of them should join the army or security forces as individuals, not as groups,” medical student Ahmed Sanallah, 27, said. “Without that there will be no prosperity and no success for the new Libya.”
The late afternoon demonstration had a cheerful atmosphere as families marched with small children on their shoulders.
Fighter jets and helicopters roared overhead in a show of official support for the demonstration, which has been enthusiastically promoted by the city’s authorities.
“Those military battalions that want to impose their ideology on the people of Libya will be confronted,” Saleh Gaouda, a member of new ruling national congress, said.
“This city wants to go back to stability and participate in building the state.”
Although the main demands of the marchers did not mention the attack on the US consulate, it seems to have provided a strong impetus for the authorities to rally support.
US ambassador Christopher Stevens was well liked in Libya, and many people who were angered by an anti-Islamic film made in the US consider the attack on the embassy to have been excessive. Some placards in English, intended for international news cameras, read: “We demand justice for Stevens” and “Libya lost a friend”.