Operation Oil Theft: Month 9, Week 2, Day 1.

Last Tuesday (22/11/11) Libya announced it's new political cabinet or Transitional Executive Board (TEB). Worryingly how much of this has been reported was wrong. It was based on a document leaked the day before that seemingly no-one bothered to check. The full correct list can be found here in English and Arabic;

http://feb17.info/official-documents/full-list-of-official-ntc-executive-board-english-arabic/

and just in English here;

http://www.lbbc.org.uk/display_news.php?news_id=117

The first obvious thing about the TEB is that it has taken a new broom to Libyan politics with few of the people who rose to prominence during the conflict being given posts. Instead they've been replaced by new people who few have actually heard of. Among what I consider to be the key ministries (Justice, Interior, Foreign Relations, Oil, Finance, Construction) there are two about whom I still know nothing but their names. However Justice went to Kablifa Ashour a Judge from Misrata who served as chancellor of Misrata central court under Qaddafi. Interior went to Fawzi Abdela'ali a lawyer from Misrata who served as a prosecutor at Misrata central court under Qaddafi. Foreign Relations has gone to Ashour Ben Khayli a career diplomat who served as Qaddafi's Ambassador to Italy during the 1960's and Korea before he resigned in 1984 in protest against the Yvonne Fletcher killing and defected to the US before moving to Canada. Oil has gone to Abdulrahman Ben Yezza an oil industry veteran who spent a large part of his career with Italian oil giant Eni. As the chairman of Libya's National Oil Company under Qaddafi he awarded large oil contract to Eni before resigning because Qaddafi thought the terms of the deal was to generous. Finance and Construction went to Hassan Ziglam and Ibrahim Eskuti respectively but both remain a complete mystery to me.

Apart from appointing competent people to the right posts the TEB shows a deliberate effort to make sure all of Libya is represented although there is an ever so slight bias towards western Libya especially Misrata. The TEB also seems to have shunned Islamists in favour of secularists including several women. However Libya's Berbers who make up around 10% of the population are not represented at all and yesterday (27/11/11) held protests in Tripoli against their omission. The only worrying appointment is Osama Juwali as Defence Minister. As Juwali is the commander of the Zintan militia there is a feeling that rather then being awarded the post on merit he blackmailed himself into it using Saif al-Islam Qaddafi as a bargaining chip.

As for Saif al-Islam himself he is still being held by the Zintan Brigade. He has not been charged with any crime and he has not been handed over to the Libyan government. Also on Tuesday (22/11/11) a delegation from the International Criminal Court (ICC) began a two day visit to Libya to discuss the options for putting Saif al-Islam on trial. These include sending him to the ICC for trial, Libya putting him on trial themselves or a combination of the two with Saif al-Islam going on trial in Libya but with involvement from ICC Judges and lawyers. Obviously it will take time for the Libyan government to make a decision but they can't really start to consider the options until Saif al-Islam is handed over to them.

In a worrying demonstration of a possible pro-Qaddafi insurgency there was fighting between members of a rebel militia and Qaddafi loyalists in Bani Walid on Wednesday (23/11/11). Apparently fighting broke out when the militia attempted to stop a vehicle containing a pro-Qaddafi tribal leader and local residents attacked them. The gun battle was said to last for several hours and left seven dead - five of them militia members. This comes on top of an incident earlier this month when the Zintan Brigade militia got into a battle with the Zawiya Brigade militia over territory. The battle lasted several days and only ended after the arrival of Libyan special forces under the direct command of the central government.