Militia groups clash in Libyan capital

TRIPOLI, Libya, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Armed militias in Libya clashed over control of a building that housed an intelligence center of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, authorities said.

Rival militias from Tripoli and Misurata clashed in the center of Tripoli with witnesses reported gunfire and casualties, the BBC reported.

The fighting was apparently between a militia occupying the bombed-out building of Gadhafi's intelligence services and forces of the new government attempting to evict them.

Col. Abdul Monem al-Tunsi, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said he had received reports the situation was "on its way to being resolved," CNN reported.

Mutual mistrust between militia groups poses a challenge to the country's new leaders.

"Since the liberation of Tripoli, the government has engaged in a multiphased process to encourage militias to either leave the city or integrate into official military or law enforcement bodies," Prime Minister Abdurraheem Elkeib said in a statement in December.