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WASHINGTON, March 8, 2012 (AFP)
Libya’s interim prime minister Abdel Rahim al-Kib on Thursday appealed for US help in dealing with Kadhafi regime “remnants” while he played down fears over a potential partition of Libya.
“One of the things we did request help with from Madame Secretary was the remnants of the past regime,” Kib said during a press conference with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after they met in Washington.
“They’ve been a nuisance and they’ve been causing problems and we need them back to give them proper justice,” Kib said. “And we also need the funds they have stolen from the Libyan people to come back to the Libyan people.”
He appeared to suggest he wanted the former Kadhafi regime members handed over for justice.
But a senior US State Department official told reporters later that the Libyans are asking Washington to persuade countries harboring Kadhafi family members to prevent them from issuing rhetoric challenging the new government.
Saadi Kadhafi, one of the sons of Libya’s slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi, told Arab television from Niger last month that a nationwide rebellion is brewing against the country’s new rulers as he vowed to return to his homeland.
Kadhafi’s daughter Aisha angered her Algerian hosts in November when she called for the overthrow of Libya’s interim government.
Clinton praised the progress made by the interim rulers who replaced Kadhafi after he was overthrown in August and later slain.
“In the last four months the prime minister and this interim government have provided essential and effective leadership, and they’ve begun the hard work of putting Libya back together,” Clinton told the press conference.
“We’ve seen progress in each of the three key areas of democratic society: building an accountable, effective government, promoting a strong private sector and developing a vibrant civil society,” the chief US diplomat said.
Kib and US officials meanwhile played down concerns that Libya would split into a western and eastern half.
On Tuesday, tribal and political leaders in Benghazi declared the eastern oil-rich region of Cyrenaica as autonomous but recognized the ruling National Transitional Council as Libya’s legitimate representative in foreign affairs.
“I can tell you this is democracy in practice, and it is simply that,” Kib said, issuing a softer response than that of Libyan leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil who said on Wednesday he would defend national unity with force if necessary.
The senior State Department official said that while the move is a matter of concern, it also appears that eastern Libyans who chafed at the
centralization of power in Tripoli under Kadhafi “want to make sure their voice is heard.”
