Protest in Tripoli against presence of armed groups

Residents of al Andalus district in Libyan capital Tripoli took to the streets on Sunday and cut off roads to protest against Islamist militants and former rebel militias who have been fighting armed forces.
The residents gathered nearby al Andalus municipality and main mosques and have burnt tires and chanted slogans demanding the exit of all militants from the neighborhood in 72 hours otherwise massive protest will take place.
The heavy clashes in Tripoli over the past two weeks have been the worst since the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi, killing more than 200 people and forcing most Western governments to pull their diplomats out of the North African state.
Fierce fighting among rival factions in the country's two major cities also underscores Libya's fragile control over the heavily armed brigades of former anti-Gaddafi rebel fighters and militias who refuse to disband.
The Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council, an alliance formed by former rebels and Islamist militants from Ansar al-Sharia, which Washington classifies as a terrorist organization, have forced the army to pull out of Benghazi.
Chanting slogans praising Libya's army and condemning extremism, protesters marched in Benghazi, the city where in 2012 the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed in an attack on the U.S. mission blamed on Islamist fighters.
The battle in Benghazi has pitted Islamist militants and militias against special forces who have joined ranks with a renegade former army officer, Khalifa Haftar, who had vowed to oust militants from the city.
While Haftar initially gained support from some Libyans weary of militant attacks and assassinations, he has failed to make significant gains. Critics dismiss him as a power-hungry, former Gaddafi ally.
There were no sign of the Libyan army, Haftar's forces or Shura Council forces in the city on Sunday, and only civilians were controlling checkpoints and organizing traffic.
Mediators including tribal leaders and elders have been trying to negotiate separate ceasefire agreements to stop the militia clashes that have turned the two biggest Libyan cities to battlefields.
Western governments, who have struggled to bring Libya's warring factions together, hope the parliament, known as the House of Representatives, will allow space for some form of political agreement to emerge.
Libya has been riven by lawlessness and fighting since the 2011 toppling and killing of Muammar Gaddafi, with rival governments and armed forces vying for territory and a share of the country's vast oil riches.