Some 30,000 non-Arab Libyans plan to return next week to their town, which they abandoned due to reprisal attacks by anti-Gaddafi militias.

But officials from Misrata warned the displaced residents of Tawargha that they still risk attacks from their militias, which are angry at them for joining Gaddafi forces during the uprising.

"It will be dangerous for them because everybody has weapons,, and we cannot guarantee that the people with weapons in their hands will not make trouble," said Fethi Bashaga, a member of the Misrata Military Council, according to Reuters.

Bashaga advised the Tawarghans, who are dark-skinned because they are descendants from African slaves, to wait for the National Transitional Council to organize their safe return to their town, 250 kilometres east of the capital Tripoli, to avoid confrontation with armed people from Misrata.

Elders of Tawargha said in a meeting Wednesday that 30,000 residents now scattered in refugee camps across Libya will return to the town next week. They appealed to the NTC, the de facto government, to help them return.

Anti-Gaddafi forces, mostly from Misrata, attacked Tawargha after dictator Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown three months ago in retaliation for its residents' participation in the shelling of Misrata. Misrata militias also accused Tawarghans of killing civilians and fighters during the siege of Misrata as well as raping women.

But Jaballah Mohammed, one of the delegates from Tawargha, said they were helpless at the hands of Gaddafi's forces.