Libya's domestic concerns

Libya faces a number of domestic challenges to its current fragile stability. These include:

• Ongoing rivalry between ethnic groupings in Zwara, Sabha and Tibu which has resulted in open conflict recently.
• The presence of militias in major cities, including Tripoli and Benghazi, which continue to spark protests.
• Separatist sentiment in the Cyrennaica region.
• Increasing domestic frustration over service delivery issues, including garbage collection, in its major cities.
• Inability of the government's security forces to enforce security over the entire country.
• Reported presence of large numbers of al-Qaeda / Islamist militants in the east, particularly in Derna.
• Porous borders which have allowed smuggling to flourish.

The current NTC-led government needs to address each of these issues and hold successful elections in mid-2012 in order to preserve the fragile stability and ensure the state's medium-term existence.