Libya’s interim authorities said they will hand over power to a newly elected congress on Wednesday, less than a year after its fighters overthrew the regime of Moamer Kadhafi. “We affirm that August 8, 2012 will be the day that power will be transferred peacefully,” Saleh Darhoub, spokesman for the outgoing National Transitional Council (NTC), told journalists in Tripoli early Monday. Libyans cast ballots on July 7 in their first free election since a popular uprising last year that escalated into a civil war and ousted the regime of now slain dictator Kadhafi. They elected a 200-member legislative assembly comprising party and independent representatives, which will replace the NTC and lead the country until fresh elections can be held on the basis of a new constitution. The transition comes against a backdrop of heightened insecurity. Three men suspected of planning bomb attacks were killed in a sting operation outside the capital on Sunday. “The brain of the operation refused to surrender and fought fiercely which resulted in the death of three people, including him,” Darhoub said.