una. However, that year, the Young Turks acquired power in Istanbul and ousted the traditional Ottoman leadership. Viewing the Muntasirs as loyalists of Abdul Hamid II, the ousted sultan, they made efforts to reduce Muntasir power in the region. The Young Turk administration in Tripoli vetoed Muntasir membership in the local parliament and dismissed the governor of Tarhuna who was Umar al-Muntasir's son, Ahmad Dhiya al-Muntasir, from his post. In addition, they allegedly hired a group of local Misratans to assassinate Abd al-Qasim, another one Umar's sons.
Italian occupation
In October 1911, Italy had launched an invasion against Ottoman Libya, but were unable to reach Misrata until June. Ahmad Dhiya al-Muntasir had consulted with the Italians in Rome months prior to the invasion and Umar al-Muntasir used his influence to coordinate with them militarily once they landed on the Libyan coastline. In return for their collaboration, the Muntasirs were able to maintain their administrative role and gained positions as advisers to the Italian military authorities.
During World War I, Misrata played an important role in the Libyan-Ottoman resistance against the occupying Italian Army. Under the leadership ofRamadan al-Swehli, the city was used a base of support for the Ottoman Empire and his Misratan army dealt a major blow to the Italians at Qasr Abu Hadi near Sirte in April 1915. Over 500 Italian troops were killed while Swehli's troops captured over 5,000 rifles, various types of machine guns and artillery and several tons of ammunition. As a result of this Libyan victory, Italy's army and their Muntasir allies withdrew from Misrata. By 1916, Misrata had become semi-autonomous and collected taxes from Sirte, the region of Fezzan and the area between it and Sirte as well as the Warfallatribal area south of Tripoli. Because of its strategic harbor, Ottoman and German forces used Misrata as one of their principal supply ports during World War I
