Libya a nation awash with guns

The open-air fish market was once where residents went to buy everything from meat and seafood to clothe s and pets. Now it is Tripoli's biggest arms market, with tables displaying pistols and assault rifles.

Libya's central government is virtually powerless and the nation is awash in millions of weapons with no control over their trafficking. This not only harms Libya's stability but also stokes regional conflict as guns are smuggled to wars stretching from Syria to West Africa.

Last month, militia fighters stole a plane-load of weapons sent by Russia for Libya's military when it stopped to refuel at Tripoli airport on the way to a base in the south.

Only a few weeks earlier, another militia seized a weapons shipment meant for the military. Among the armaments were heavy anti-aircraft guns, which are popular with militias and are usually mounted on the backs of small trucks.

The weapons chaos has alarmed Europe and the United States. At a conference in Rome this month, Western and Arab diplomats pressed Libyan officials to allow the international community to help collect weapons and rebuild the military.

The problem was that Europe and the US simply did not know who to talk to in Libya, a Western diplomat said.