Former rebel fighters in Libya are raising the stakes by demanding a role in the interim government which is currently being formed, amid rising tensions over the naming of an army chief of staff. Abdelkarim Belhaj, the former jihadist who heads the military council in the Libyan capital, said a deal had been reached with the ruling National Transitional Council for civilian ex-rebels to sit in the new cabinet. The NTC has said a new government led by interim premier Abdel Rahim al-Kib is expected to be announced on Sunday. Kib has said the new government will be formed of technocrats, but pressures from Libya’s tribes and from the various armed factions make his promise a difficult one to keep. “We have reached an agreement that candidates from the thwar (civilian rebels) will receive certain very specific portfolios,” Belhaj said at a military parade, without elaborating.
