Libya: Return of the Strongman

Six years ago this week the brutal repression of a protest in Libya's second city of Benghazi inspired a revolution that led to the fall of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Today the country is preyed on by more than 1500 militias. Different governments rule in the west around Tripoli and in the east from Tobruk.

Now some international powers are considering abandoning the ineffectual UN-led attempts to find political solutions and instead are turning once again to a Libyan military leader to seize control. General Khalifa Haftar commander of a powerful militia, the Libyan National Army, is seen by his supporters as the only man to restore stability to the country. But his critics argue that the last thing Libya needs is a return to the rule of a strongman.

(Photo: General Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army. Credit: Getty Images)