TRIPOLI: Libya’s government announced Tuesday plans to remove militias from the capital and eventually integrate them into the security forces, after a weekend of deadly clashes between militiamen and residents.

As a first step, the authorities would try to determine exactly how many militias are operating in Tripoli, their sizes and the weapons they hold, according to the plan communicated to the General National Congress.

Once that is accomplished, the militias would then be removed from the capital, disarmed and their men integrated into the security forces, which has long been sought by the government.

The Misrata militia, which was at the heart of the weekend violence in which 46 people died and some 500 were wounded, already started pulling out of the city on Monday at the behest of community leaders in their city, on the Mediterranean coast.

The Misrata and Zintan militias are the most heavily armed groups to have emerged from the uprising, having looted Muammar Qaddafi’s arsenal, seizing light and heavy weapons, armed vehicles and even tanks.

On Tuesday, dozens of police were deployed on the capital’s streets as residents continued to demonstrate against the militias on the third day of a general strike called for by the city government.

The Misrata brigade saw some of the heaviest fighting during the uprising against Qaddafi, when their city was besieged by regime forces.

But many such groups have rejected government calls to lay down their arms or integrate into the armed forces, triggering the frustration of Libyans who once hailed them as heroes for toppling Qaddafi.