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    January 23, 2012

Libyan Political Leader Welcomes NTC Member's Resignation

   Hadi Shalluf says Abdel Hafiz Ghoga and other former Gadhafi loyalists
   have tried to steal the Libyan revolution.

   James Butty
   Women celebrate the liberation of Libya at Martyrs' Square
   Photo: Reuters
   Women celebrate the liberation of Libya at Martyrs' Square in Tripoli
   October 23, 2011. Libya's new rulers declared the country freed from
   Muammar Gaddafi's 42 years of one-man rule on Sunday, saying the
   "Pharaoh of the times" was now in history's garbage bin and a
   democratic future beckoned

   A Libyan political leader has welcomed the resignation of the deputy
   head of Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC).

   Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, one of the council's highest-profile members,
   stepped down Sunday, as thousands of university students demonstrated
   against him in Benghazi.

   Hadi Shalluf, founder and president of the Justice and Democracy Party
   of Libya, has accused Ghoga and other former loyalists of ousted
   dictator Moammar Gadhafi of trying to steal the Libyan revolution.

   'First of all, there are a lot of people who have refused to accept
   that he [Ghoga] should be a member of the National Transitional
   Council, for a long time, and then there were the demonstrations
   against him in Benghazi. They said he should be brought to justice with
   Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam. Also, he is not really a revolutionist,
   and then his father was working with Gadhafi,' he said.

   Shalluf said many Libyans want the NTC to step down and turn the
   running of the country over to a transitional government, which would
   then organize elections.

   'We should have a committee to draft a constitution, first of all, and
   then, after that, we should go to an election. But, unfortunately, the
   Council does not like to make the constitution,' Shalluf said.

   He said he and other pro-democracy Libyans want all Libyans to work
   together in the new, post-revolution Libya. But, Shalluf said those who
   are alleged to have committed crimes against humanity during the
   Gadhafi regime must first face justice.

   'Our party, Justice and Democracy, believe[s] all Libyans are equal.
   But, we need to say to these people that, yes, you could be made part
   of our new country, but you should be brought to justice because most
   of them were with Gadhafi, they killed people and they violated human
   rights laws, and also some of these people violated women,' Shalluf
   said.

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