Libyan Islamist commander backs new government despite getting no top posts
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(Tripoli Military Council leader Abdel Hakim Belhadj speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tripoli, November 28, 2011. REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny
The Islamist who commands one of Libya’s most powerful militias, Abdel Hakim Belhadj, has said he will back the interim national government despite his supporters being overlooked for top posts. But he would not commit to a date for the forces under his control to hand over their weapons to the government, a crucial test of whether Libya after the fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi can form a cohesive state.
Some analysts had warned that caretaker Prime Minister Abdurrahim El-Keib risked sparking a confrontation with Belhadj’s Islamists after he handed the defence minister’s post in the new government to the head of a rival militia.
Speaking at the luxury hotel overlooking Tripoli’s port where he has his headquarters, Belhadj said on Monday he had not put his name forward for any cabinet post, and had been consulted about appointments for the most powerful jobs.
“I hope that it (the new government) will be granted all the support needed for it to carry out its tasks. I am aware of certain opinions accusing it of being imbalanced in terms of representing all regions, but we hope that it would be allowed to carry out its duties to render the country stable and secure,” he said. “As revolutionaries, we are concerned with supporting this government and all the ministers including the defence minister. We will coordinate and cooperate with the defence ministry … Our relationship with the defence minister is good.”
Belhadj is a former leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which waged an insurgency against Gaddafi in the 1990s. He spent time with Islamist militants in Afghanistan, though he said he was not allied with Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda.
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