Suspicion about saboteurs is crack in rebels' resolve

Fear of saboteurs is spreading in Libya's liberated east amid concerns that Col Muammar Gaddafi is seeking to reassert control by stealth.

Rebels are concerned that volunteers who flooded into the east to help maintain order could be secret regime sympathisers.

Dressed in a motley collection of cast-off military uniforms and carrying weapons found in army stores, the volunteer watchmen were widely welcomed in the first days of the revolution.

They came forward to maintain law and order after the regime's police force was either forcibly disbanded or simply disappeared.

They performed vital tasks such as manning the checkpoints that sprang up around the liberated cities and even acted as traffic policemen.

But as Gaddafi's forces launched a counter attack on the east, it was clear that their role had become more intrusive, with some Libyans starting to worry about the lack of control over their activities.

One, who asked not to be named, described how he lived in an area of the city of Ajdabiya where many retired members of Gaddafi's forces have houses.

There had been cases of the watchmen demanding to search residents' houses for weapons, saying they suspected they might be used against the revolution.

"It got so bad that at night we now pull barricades across the entrance to our street to stop them coming in," the man said. "These people are often very young and they are untrained. That makes you nervous."

Although the majority of people still enthusiastically support the watchmen, such incidents show Libyans are becoming more suspicious of each other and their loyalty as it becomes clear that an armed solution, not mere protests, will be necessary to force Gaddafi from power.

In Benghazi, the de facto capital of the revolution in the east, watchmen can now be seen at the checkpoints throughout the city.

They stop every passing car and demand to know who the people are and where they are going.

Those with west Libyan accents are routinely asked to leave their vehicles for further questioning.

"We take turns from 3pm to 8am," said one watchman, Ahmed Abdelrahim, a Kalashnikov over his shoulder and his face masked with a balaclava.

"We are all civilians without any military training. I am responsible for a group of popular committees. My team has the job of protecting the city's infrastructure."

He said he was particularly concerned about arson attacks. "Gaddafi's mercenaries are starting fires and doing all they can to create chaos in the city," he warned.