Tripoli, 24 April:
The NTC Chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil has said that its meetings will be held on Sundays and Tuesdays of . . .[restrict]the week and will be public in that they will be open to the media who can inform the Libyan public about its discussions and decisions.
He nonetheless called on the media to exercise accuracy and impartiality when reporting the NTC’s work to the public. He referred to rumours that had circulated about dismissing the government of Prime Minister Abdurrahim Al-Kib saying that it was a national duty to maintain it in office until its term ended. He confirmed that elections would held as scheduled.
In an interview on the national TV channel on Sunday night, Jalil also said that the Libyan judiciary was now fully in charge of the case of Saif Al-Islam Qaddafi not the International Criminal Court and that in any event Libya was not a signatory to it.
He nonetheless expressed thanks to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, for the role he had played in collecting evidence which resulted in warrant arrests for Saif Al-Islam, his father and Abdullah Senussi, now held in Mauritania.
Jalil reiterated that Saif Al-Islam would be tried in Libya, pointing out that an appropriate place for his trial was now ready, was safe and secure and met the highest international standards. He said that the media could visit it at any time.
He also expressed gratitude to the international community, the Arab League and the European Union for their help and support for the 17 February Revolution, the like of which he said had never been seen in the past. Never, he said, had they all agreed on a subject in the way they did on Libya.
Libya would not forget it and would reciprocate when needed. “We, as a Muslim society, extend a helping hand and offer cooperation to all Arab and Islamic countries, and to the world at large, to those who helped us”. Help too would be given when needed to “those that did not [help us] because our goal and future policies is to contribute and encourage international peace”.
(Wal – Libyan News Agency) [/restrict]
