Abdelhakim Belhaj, a Libyan Islamist who has commanded the Tripoli military council since the ouster of Moamer Kadhafi's regime, has resigned from his post to enter politics.

"Last night, I presented my resignation," he told AFP.

"It is now time to turn to politics," Belhaj said, adding he would run in upcoming elections for a constituent assembly.

Libya is on track to hold elections for a 200-seat assembly in June.

Belhaj said that his party, Hizb al-Watan, will formally launch next week.

He added that the military council had fulfilled its role and that it was up to state institutions, such as the ministries of defence and interior which have integrated thousands of former rebels, to tackle security.

"It is up to official institutions to take charge of security," he said.

Belhaj is a former commander of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which led an armed insurgency against Kadhafi during the 1990s.

He is currently suing the British authorities for their alleged role in his 2004 rendition to Libya, where he was tortured.

Belhaj charges that British intelligence officers interrogated him while he was detained in Abu Slim prison.

As part of a reconciliation deal led by Kadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam, Belhaj was released in 2010 along with more than 200 opposition Islamists.

Belhaj shot to fame after the battle for Tripoli in August last year but has kept a low profile in the past few months.

Despite his resignation, the Tripoli military council would not be disbanded, he said.

Libya analyst Peter Cole said Belhaj's decision to enter politics reflects a broader trend.

"It shows that revolutionaries are beginning to see the military councils as a temporary apparatus and want a permanent voice in Libyan politics," he said.

In the absence of institutions, local military councils have been central to security in cities across Libya during and after the 2011 revolt.

Lebanese army deploys in Tripoli areas hit by fighting
Tripoli, Lebanon (AFP) May 15, 2012 - Lebanese troops deployed on Tuesday in sectors of Tripoli affected by clashes, in a bid to calm the northern city after three days of sectarian fighting that killed nine people, an AFP correspondent said.

Troops entered Syria Street, the frontline of fighting between the majority Sunni Muslim district of Bab el-Tebbaneh, and Jabal Mohsen, whose residents are mostly Alawite, at around 6:00 am (0300 GMT).

"Hostilities have ceased in Tripoli," Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati told reporters in a press briefing held on Tuesday in Beirut, adding that "the past 48 hours have been difficult."

Mikati said he had met political officials and Islamist leaders to discuss the crisis. "We reached an understanding on a number of issues," including a ceasefire, he added.

Mikati said that "a peaceful, unarmed sit-in is still going on in Tripoli," by people demanding the release of Islamist detainees. "But protesters are not allowed to carry weapons, or to provoke insecurity."

The decision to deploy the army was taken following discussions with Tripoli officials.

Bab al-Tebbaneh sits opposite Jabal Mohsen, where the majority of residents are from the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam to which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad belongs.

Tensions between the two neighbourhoods in Lebanon's second city had been simmering for years but burst into the open several times after the revolt against Assad's regime broke out in Syria 15 months ago.

Lebanese army units started positioning themselves in the two districts late on Monday and completed their deployment on Tuesday morning in all neighbourhoods affected by clashes.

"Thank God, the army has entered and we have peace now," Bab el-Tebbaneh resident Ahmed Jaber told AFP by telephone.

"Some of the people who had fled the area have started to return, but most are still scared because fighting has resumed in the past even after the army has been deployed," he added.

Meanwhile, a clean-up operation began in Bab el-Tebbaneh, with bulldozers removing roadblocks set up by gunmen and unexploded munitions.

Lebanese electricity company teams also started work in the embattled neighbourhood after the deadly clashes left residents without power.

Battles first erupted on Saturday between residents of the rival neighbourhoods when security forces arrested Shadi al-Mawlawi, a Sunni Islamist, on charges of belonging to a terrorist organisation.

A total of nine people, including a soldier hit by sniper fire, died in the port city and dozens were wounded in the fighting.