Tag Archives: National Transitional Council

Tripoli – An official with the New York-based Human Rights Watch on Sunday said the group was concerned by the lack of transparency among Libya’s interim National Transitional Council rulers.

“One concern we have today is about the NTC and the lack of transparency,” Fred Abrahams of HRW told a conference on human rights in Tripoli… Read More

The National Transitional Council said a new Libyan government led by interim premier Abdel Rahim al-Kib will likely be announced on Sunday.

Kib will “present the formation of the government next week for a confidence vote of the NTC. We expect the government formation to be announced next Sunday,” Abdel Hafidh Ghoga, spokesman of the new authorities, told reporters… Read More

By Mohamed Fadel Fahmy
Controversy over how money coming to Libya’s new leadership is being spent — and even how it is being converted to Libyan currency at various rates — has prompted the head of the governing National Transitional Council to defend the credibility of his ruling group.

At a news conference this week, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, chairman of the NTC, insisted “transparency is the future of Libya,” and presented NTC officials to explain the new government’s financial dealings.

NTC Chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil speaking in Benghazi earlier this month

The NTC faces rebuilding a Libya free of the ghosts of corruption lingering from the 42-year-old regime of ousted strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

“I know there are those who doubt the integrity of the NTC, and its members and even the fighters but I tell them transparency is the future of Libya,” Abdel Jalil announced to a room full of journalists in a press conference at the Islamic Call auditorium.

One person openly critical of the NTC’s monetary body, the Temporary Financing Mechanism, is Ibrahim Ali, the CEO of the Libyan Transparency Association, a newly formed nongovernmental organization focused on curbing corruption.

The TFM was established to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of the Libyan people suffering from the ongoing armed conflict and has received a total of $662 million in international loans or Libyan assets from the United States, according to TFM Director Mazen Ramadan.

“The administrative corruption of the TFM is one thing. Pinpointing the numerous allegations of financial corruption claims submitted to me are the current basis of my investigation,” Ali told CNN after the press conference.… Read More

Libya’s new government vowed on Thursday to investigate “every penny” of suspicious oil contracts signed under the former regime, responsible for what it described as “unbelievable” corruption.

“Any corruption under the previous regime will be investigated… There will be specialised committees that will look into all these contracts and agreements starting with the oil sector,” the National Transitional Council (NTC)’s oil and finance minister Ali Tarhuni told a news conference in Tripoli.

He did not give details of specific contracts or companies under suspicion and said that, due to the ongoing conflict, the investigation had yet to begin.

Tarhuni said the government would publish details of past contracts at the end of next week, and promised to turn a leaf on the practices of Moammer al-Kadhafi’s regime.

“There was an unbelievable amount of corruption. What the size of this corruption was is the question. We will investigate every penny openly and transparently,” the minister insisted, adding that the interests of the Libyan people would be paramount in future contractual negotiations.… Read More

Libya’s victorious militias are still fighting the last forces loyal to ousted strongman Moammar Gadhafi, but as the military endgame draws closer, some are worrying about the political battles that are just beginning.

Abdel Hakim Belhaj (center left), a prominent militia commander, walks with Transitional National Council Chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil in Tripoli on Sept. 10. The battle to oust Moammar Gadhafi produced a number of leaders who will have to work together to form a new government.

The question is an old one for revolutionaries: How to go from a military triumph to a civilian government?

In Libya, the problem is magnified because the fighting is still going on and the military consists of various regional militias that don’t answer to a single commander.

The rebels operate under the banner of the Transitional National Council, an unelected group that consists of Libyan dissidents, former exiles and officials who defected from the Gadhafi regime.

Mahmoud Jibril is the equivalent of the prime minister of the TNC, and he’s trying to form an interim government that can run the country until a constitution is drafted and elections can be held.

But Jibril has become a lightning rod for criticism, some of it from militia leaders and their allies. He vented some of his own frustration at a news conference on Thursday, saying he doesn’t plan to be a part of the interim government, and that the TNC would be doing him a favor by asking for his resignation now.… Read More

By: Ben Hubbard and Hadeel Al-Shalchi
Libya’s transitional justice minister said Monday that he has approved a measure to abolish the country’s state security prosecution and courts, which sentenced opponents of the old regime to prison.

At a press conference in Tripoli, Mohammed al-Alagi, part of Libya’s new leadership after the ouster of Moammar Gadhafi, said he has signed a document to disband the bodies. The step still needs approval by the National Transitional Council that now runs the country.

“I am personally very happy to sign an approval to end the state security prosecution and court, and the state security appeals court,” al-Alagi said.

He said the document includes a request to abolish a third court for special cases where many opposition members were sentenced to life terms in prisons like Abu Salim in Tripoli, where inmates were massacred by Gadhafi’s regime.

Libyans are pressing forward with efforts to do away with some of the most hated remnants of the former regime even though fighting continues and the ousted leader’s whereabouts remains unknown.

Hundreds of civilians fled Gadhafi’s hometown of Sirte Monday to escape growing shortages of food and medicine and escalating fears that their homes will be struck during fighting between revolutionary forces and regime loyalists.… Read More