By Ahmed Elumami.
Tripoli, 29 June 2013:
The GNC Defence Committee will in the coming week, reveal a short-list of five senior army . . .[restrict]officers from whom the full GNC will choose the new chief of staff.
Defence committee chairman Mohamed Kilani told the Libya Herald this evening that the five had been selected from 57 senior commanders.
“ The five met the standards required for the position, ” said Kilani, explaining that the criteria included participation in the war of liberation, military experience and a high reputation, but most importantly, that they were eligible under the Political Isolation Law.
On 9 June, the last chief of staff Yousef Mangoush resigned following the deaths of 31 people in clashes between members of the First Brigade of the Libya Shield Forces (Deraa 1) and protestors who were demonstrating outside the brigade’s headquarters, demanding the force be disbanded.
Congress accepted the resignation readily since, according to defence committee insiders, there was already a strong movement to relieve Mangoush of his duties, because of his poor performance. Mangoush had become widely unpopular with public demonstrations for his removal because of what was seen as his failure to rebuild the Libyan army.
Congress appointed General-Major Salem Gnaidi as acting chief of staff. [/restrict]
