Mustafa Abdul Jalil is Chairman of the National Transitional Council (NTC) that was formed after the outbreak of the Libyan revolution. By accepting the post, he assumes a difficult historical responsibility that entails tackling complicated, sometimes thorny issues and problems for which he has been held accountable directly or indirectly, as he has been the top authority for a year and a half.   

Mustafa Abdul Jalil is Chairman of the National Transitional Council (NTC) that was formed after the outbreak of the Libyan revolution. By accepting the post, he assumes a difficult historical responsibility that entails tackling complicated, sometimes thorny issues and problems for which he has been held accountable directly or indirectly, as he has been the top authority for a year and a half.   

Jalil has most recently been held responsible for the assassination of Major General Abdul Fattah Younis, the last minister of interior under Gaddafi’s regime. Younis’ family accuses Abdul Jalil of being involved and that he has helped conceal the identity of his assassinators.

Chairman Jalil, many Libyans believe that you know details about the assassination of Major General Younis and you refuse to reveal anything about it.  

I’ve said in the investigation and in a lot of TV interviews that the Islamic extremists, who tried to assassinate him and his companions the day he dissociated himself from Gaddafi’s regime, say the thunderbolt brigade led by Younis himself, oppressed them in Derna and Ras al Helal valleys, when he was a minister of interior during Gaddafi’s rule.

They didn’t want him to appear in the scene or take part in the revolution; which, made us establish two security units, one for the army headed by him and the other for the rebels. They prevented him from coming, threatened to kill him if he did and started holding him accountable for all the mistakes, though he was not to blame for most of them.

That prompted NTC to refer the case to the executive office, which in turn, formed a committee to investigate the matter and it decided to arrest Younis. According to the decision, a group of officers were supposed to arrest him, but they refused claiming that it should be made by NTC or the military police. The rebels were therefore authorized to do it but an extremist group seized the opportunity and assassinated him after arresting him.

Spokesperson of Younis’ family, Muhammad Hamed, says the assassination took place a long time before you withdrew his powers.

I didn’t withdraw his powers, for he was dealing with the Minister of Defense who we appointed due to the sharp disagreement between Younis and Khalifa Haftar (who competed with him for leading the military forces). The Minister was Younis’ teacher from military college and was he respected by both of them, so he distributed the authorities among them and the rebels.

Were any meetings held between your tribe (Awlad Hamad) and Younis’ (Ubaidat) to solve the issue?

Ubaidat took a good stance from the very beginning, despite its difficult situation. When gossip spread and those who promote conflict tried to get involved, a tribal meeting was held in Qasr Al-Muqaddam (south of Bayda) between members of the local council of Bayda and Ubaidat, which was told that if it had any doubts in Mustafa Abdul Jalil, he, his family and whoever it wanted were ready to swear, but we haven’t received any response yet.

The escape of Bashir Saleh, head of the Libya Africa Investment Portfolio (LAP), occupied public opinion and you were accused of being involved, what do you say in this regard?

The prosecutor is investigating the case. At the time, I was preparing to travel to Sudan and I knew that Saleh had a lot of secrets about African investments. He lived in a villa under house arrest by one of the Zintan Brigades.    

I met him and collected some details about our investments in Sudan. He promised to give me a detailed report on LAP investments in many countries and that is where the visit ended. I didn’t give any oral or written permission to release him. Those who accuse me should prove it. The only thing I said was that he was a good man with good origins so they should treat him well. Does this sentence mean to release him?

Haw was Saleh treated under house arrest?

He told me himself that he was treated well, but that was in the presence of the brigade members. After all, he was under house arrest and not imprisoned. 

The second part of this interview will appear next week on Correspondents.