Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Libya has stopped payments to militias.

Officials said the National Transitional Council has halted funds to
former rebel fighters that helped oust the regime of Col. Moammar Gadhafi.

They said NTC wanted to reduce the power of the militias, which number up to 250,000 fighters and have been frustrating government security policy.

“Payment of rewards to rebels has been stopped due to violations and
abuses,” NTC spokesman Mohammed Harizi said.

Harizi did not detail the funding cut. Over the last six months, militia
fighters received up to 4,000 dinars, or $3,200, for having participated in the war on Gadhafi, which ended in October 2011.

But officials said the rebels have failed to surrender their weapons and
refused to return to civilian life. They acknowledged that militias still
control parts of the capital, Tripoli.

Haziri said the cutoff to rebels was meant to end fraud. He said
government funds ended up with relatives of the rebels or those who
impersonated opposition fighters.

“Millions of dinars allocated to revolutionaries were lost in
[illegitimate] payments to non-beneficiaries,” Haziri said.

The government has sought to recruit rebels for Libya’s new military and
security forces. In response, several major militias have demanded financial
incentives to disband.

  illegitimate payments, Libya halts payouts to militias who helped oust Gadhafi, militias still control parts of Tripoli, Mohammed Harizi, National Transitional Council, Wary of fraud