as the GNC failed to stand down on 7 February 2014. On 14 February 2014, General Khalifa Haftar appeared in a video broadcast on state TV, declaring the dissolution of the GNC and the formation of a caretaker government committee to oversee new elections. In response, Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said: "The GNC is doing its work and so is the government. The army is in its headquarters, and Khalifa Haftar has no authority." He also said legal proceedings under military law would be taken against Haftar for his statement. On 16 May 2014, Haftar's militia launched a campaign it dubbed "Operation Dignity", in an offensive against Benghazi bases of Ansar al-Sharia. Security Lawlessness under the interim government During the civil war, brigades of armed volunteers sprang up around the country, reporting to local military councils, which became de facto local governments. Civilian leaders said that, after the declaration of liberation, the militias shifted from merely delaying the surrender of their weapons to actively asserting a continuing political role as "guardians of the revolution". Some of the largest, and most well-equipped brigades were associated with Islamist groups then forming political parties. Reports suggested sporadic clashes between rival militias, and vigilante revenge killings. Civilian residents reported being subjected to looting and robbery by gunmen. In December 2011, a group of armed men dragged Libya's attorney general Abdul-Aziz al-Hassady from his car in broad daylight in Tripoli, threatening to kill him if he didn't release one of their friends who had been arrested on suspicion of murder. Days later, a group of Zintani gunmen attacked the convoy of a top army officer, Gen. Khalifa Haftar, as it was speeding through a checkpoint set up by the group. In a separate incident, gunfire broke out between the army and the Zintan brigade at the Tripoli International Airport. On 16 December 2011, Haftar said an armed group had abducted his son, Belgassim, and detained him at the airport. While initially unwilling to let foreign private security firms operate in Libya, by December the NTC had allowed Western mercenaries to move in to fill the security vacuum around the country. The main focus of the security contractors were oil industry sites. Interim interior minister Fawzi Abdelali stated that the authorities were planning to integrate 50,000 former rebels into the security forces of the defence and interior ministries; over the long term, 200,000 fighters would