Libya’s interim government promises to change leaders after the fall of Gaddafi’s home city

Libya

 From Kareem Fahim and Rick Gladstone, the New York Times:  Libya’s provisional leaders said Monday that they would resign once the former rebels defeat the vestiges of armed support for Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in his home city of Surt , a move that would clear the way for a new interim government that would run the country until elections can be held.

The announcement signaled that the Transitional National Council, as the provisional government is known, had had to revise its version of victory in the eight-month conflict against Colonel Qaddafi, who fled underground in late August when the anti-Qaddafi forces overran Tripoli. Previously, officials with the council had said they would not declare the conflict to be officially over until the country was completely pacified and Colonel Qaddafi and his top aides were either arrested, killed or confirmed to be out of the country. . . .

The proposed changes to the government were announced by the head of the council, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, and the temporary prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril, at a news conference in the eastern city of Benghazi, where the armed uprising against Colonel Qaddafi took root in February.

Both men had said previously that they intended to relinquish their posts, but their statements on Monday offered more specifics about the timing.
 
Mr. Jibril, who has become a focus of much of the criticism of the provisional government, added the foreign ministry to his portfolio. Mr. Abdel-Jalil also announced the creation of a ministry responsible for dealing with victims of the conflict.
 
He said that that within a month after Surt was captured, a new interim government would be named. He also was quoted as saying that he and Mr. Jibril had pledged to “not take part in any future government in any way.”  (photo: Reuters)

Image: reuters%2010%204%2011%20%20Mahmoud%20Jibril.jpg