Libya set to be declared free

Libya’s new leaders will on Sunday declare liberation after the death of Muammar Gaddafi, paving the way for the formation of an interim government followed by the first free vote in 42 years. The long-awaited declaration was being overshadowed, however, by raging controversy over the circumstances of Gaddafi’s killing after he was captured alive during the fall of his hometown Sirte on Thursday. National Transitional Council officials said the declaration would be made in the eastern city of Benghazi, cradle of the revolt, inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, that began in February and, backed later by a NATO air war, saw Tripoli overrun in August. The NTC had promised to proclaim the country’s liberation once Sirte, Gaddafi’s last bastion of support, had fallen.
Under the NTC’s roadmap, an interim government would be formed within one month of the declaration, followed within eight months by elections for a constitutional assembly – the first democratic vote in Libya since Gaddafi seized power in a coup 42 years ago.
Parliamentary and presidential elections would be held within a year.
Interim leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said an investigation was being conducted into the circumstances of Gaddafi’s killing after several foreign governments and human rights watchdogs posed questions. “We are dealing with the subject with transparency,” Abdel Jalil said.
Disquiet has grown internationally over how Gaddafi met his end after NTC fighters hauled him out of a culvert where he was hiding following NATO air strikes on the convoy in which he had been trying to flee his falling hometown. Libya to form new govt within the month: PM: Libya’s interim prime minister Mahmud Jibril said on Sunday the formation of a new government is expected to take “from a week to a month.” “There are consultations to form a new government and this process would take approximately from one week to one month. It might take longer and or less than that,” Jibril told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Jordan.
“Then there will be real hard work to minimise the period to have elections to elect our national congress which would be the new parliament instead of the National Transitional Council (NTC), which is going to be dissolved.”
Libya’s new leadership is expected to formally proclaim the country’s liberation on Sunday.
“I am not planning to run for anything,” Jibril said in response to a question about his future. He has reiterated that he wants to quit his post in order to help “develop civil society in Libya on solid foundations.” Libyan NTC ‘stained’ by Gaddafi killing: Britain: Britain’s new Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said Sunday the reputation of Libya’s new leaders had been “stained” by the killing of ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Hammond said he would like to see an investigation into the death of Gaddafi, who was captured alive during the fall of his hometown Sirte on Thursday. “It’s certainly not the way we do things, it’s not the way we would have liked it to have happened,” he told BBC television. “We would have liked to see Colonel Gaddafi going on trial, ideally at the International Criminal Court, to answer for his misdeeds not only in Libya but of course the many acts of terrorism that he supported and perpetrated outside Libya, of which we in Britain have a disproportionately large number of victims.
“The fledgling Libyan government will understand that it’s reputation in the international community is a little bit stained by what happened. “I’m sure that it will want to get to the bottom of it in a way that rebuilds and cleanses that reputation.” Gaddafi’s body to be handed to his relatives: NTC: Libya’s interim government will hand the body of slain despot Muammar Gaddafi to his relatives after consulting with them on the location of his burial, a senior government advisor said on Sunday. “The decision has been taken to hand him over to his extended family, because none of his immediate family are present at this moment,” Ahmed Jibril said. “The NTC are in consultation with his family. It is for his family to decide where Gaddafi will be buried, in consultation with the NTC,” he added. The NTC has been reticent about plans for his burial, not wishing to see the grave become a rallying point for residual loyalists, and NTC leaders and military officials have indicated that he would be buried in a secret location.