The incident serves to underline the volatility of many areas withinTripolitania, where Qadhafi-era rivalries and bitter wartime feuds continue to resonate on local security. In particular, neither Zintan nor Misratah (the two main centres of resistance during Qadhafi’s overthrow) are likely to cede significant power to the federal government. Frederic Wehrey, a senior analyst at the RAND Corporation wrote in mid-July: “The much-applauded victory of (Mahmoud) Jibril's National Forces Alliance is only going to strengthen Misratah's resolve against integration. The alliance did poorly in Misratah and Jibril's Warfalla tribe is despised by the city's powerful families”.
Gulf of Sidra and Cyrenaica
Some time between 11 July and 15 July, the federalist Interim Cyrenaica Council (ICC) dismantled their road blocks on the coastal highway at Wadi Al-Ahmar, 100km east of the coastal city of Sirte. The road blocks served both symbolic and practical purposes: symbolically, the Wadi Al-Ahmar area is the recognized historic border between Tripolitania andCyrenaica. The opening of the road will ease commerce, freeing up the hundreds of Egyptian trucks bottlenecked at the Wadi Al-Ahmar checkpoint. The dismantling of roadblocks also reduces one source of military friction between the federal government and federalist militias.
Benghazi continued to suffer security incidents throughout the reporting period. On 11 July an unsuccessful assassination attempt was undertaken against Ashour Shuail, an ex-official in the regime’s internal security office in Benghazi. The hit-and-run gunfire attack on Shuail occurred while he was driving in his car in the Al Majuri district. On 12 July two rocket-propelled grenades hit an office belonging to the National Army inBenghazi, killing two people and leaving two others injured. A statement released by the Ministry of Defense blamed “fifth columnists”. On 14 July a car crash resulted in a stand-off between militiamen at the Benghazi Medical Center, with one fighter brandishing a rocket-propelled grenade launcher on the premises. Press reports stated at least one gunshot was heard in the area during the incident. The incident follows the firing of a C5 rocket (a 57mm aircraft-launched munition) and a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) at the Benghazi Medical Center by unknown assailants on 6 July.
In Dernah, the centre of Salafi Islam in Libya, a mosque was attacked with a small improvised explosive device on 9 July. No culprits were identified. Further evidenced accumulated this week concerning the rise of radical Islamist militias in the area. Frederic Wehrey, the aforementioned RAND expert on Libya’s militias, claimed on 15 July that the Dernah High Security Committee (HSC) has absorbed entire Salafi militias en masse, claiming “a local Salafi brigade, the Abu Salim Martyrs' Brigade, which is known for its vendettas against Qadhafi-era security officials and its ties to more radical Salafi groups like the Ansar Al Sharia, is now enforcing security as the town's branch of the (HSC)”. Libyan contacts report that a Salafist radio station began broadcasting from Al-Marj (halfway between Benghazi and Bayda).