Libya: Abdel Rahim al-Kib named new interim PM

BBC News, 31 October 2011

Libya Crisis 

• Muammar Gaddafi: How he died
• The bloody birth of new Libya
• Last of the buffoon dictators?
• Counting the cost in Libya

Abdel Rahim al-Kib replaces Mahmoud
Jibril (pictured) as interim prime minister

Libya's interim authorities have named electrical engineering academic Abdel Rahim al-Kib as the new prime minister.

The National Transitional Council (NTC) made the announcement days after declaring the country "liberated" following the death of Muammar Gaddafi.

It also coincides with the official end of the Nato air campaign that helped overthrow the long-time leader.

The NTC wants a national congress to be elected within eight months, and multi-party elections in Libya in 2013.

Mr Kib, an academic specialising in electrical engineering and based in Tripoli, beat eight other candidates to receive 26 of the 51 votes from members of the NTC.

He is seen as a consensus candidate, who is well-liked and can smooth over rivalries within the NTC, the BBC's Katya Adler in Tripoli reports.

Mr Kib is expected to appoint a new cabinet in the coming days. The new interim government will run Libya until elections are held.

He replaces Mahmoud Jibril, who said he would stand down once Libya was declared officially "liberated" - which happened on 23 October, after the death of Col Gaddafi and the fall of his hometown of Sirte.

Spokesman Jalal el-Gallal said the NTC wanted to form a new interim government after the fall of Col Gaddafi because its initial members started out as an impromptu group, the Associated Press news agency reports.