Tarhouni: Libyan government supported by money, arms, PR

The NTC's new line-up is already facing criticism for being elitist A senior figure in Libya's outgoing government has denounced its leaders as an unelected elite, supported by "money, arms and PR," and warned that 90 per cent of Libya is politically voiceless.
Outgoing acting Prime Minister Ali Tarhouni's comments were the strongest criticism to date by a senior politician of the country's new rulers, who led the rebellion that ended Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule and have been in charge since his fall.
The National Transitional Council (NTC) also had a say in Prime Minister Abdul Rahim El-Keeb's provisional government line-up, which was announced on Tuesday and mandated to steer the country towards democracy.
"The voices that we see now are the voices of the elite, the voices of the NTC who are not elected and the voices of other people who are supported by the outside by money, arms and PR," Tarhouni said on Thursday, hours after a new cabinet was formed.
"It's about time we heard the true voices of the masses ... we need to start rebuilding this democratic constitutional movement," he told a news conference.
Tarhouni was in charge of the oil and finance portfolios in Libya's outgoing transitional government and briefly served as acting prime minister until Thursday, when a new cabinet was sworn in.
Having been a frontrunner for a post as finance minister in Keib's cabinet until the eleventh hour, Tarhouni said he had been asked to join but declined due to the challenges of the transitional period and because he wanted to speak freely.
"I see danger for the sovereignty of Libya. I see a threat for the wealth of the Libyan people," Tarhouni told reporters, without elaborating.
"I see the economic issues as a major challenge," he added.
Tarhouni said that NTC had "failed miserably" in melding the myriad armed militias that still roam the country into an official national army.
Listing the many security and economic challenges that lie ahead for a nascent government as the country emerges from a bloody civil war, he said the safety of oil installations was a critical issue.
"My hope that the new government will take this issue seriously," he said.
However, Tarhouni repeatedly wished the new line up "success" and said "they should be given a chance."
Meanwhile, Libya's former rebels are apparently holding some 7,000 detainees, many of them sub-Saharan Africans, without access to due legal process after the country's civil war, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said in a new report. The report stated that some detainees had been tortured, while some were targeted because of their skin color, that women were held under male supervision without female guards and that children were being detained alongside adults.
The UN secretary-general also said there were "disturbing reports" that war crimes had been committed by both the rebels and former government forces in Sirte, where toppled leader Muammar Gaddafi was captured and killed on October 20.
Ban's report, obtained by the Reuters news agency, was prepared for the UN Security Council ahead of a debate on Libya the 15-nation body will hold on Monday, to be addressed by the UN special envoy for Libya, Ian Martin.
The UN chief's report said most courts in Libya were currently "not fully operational" due to lack of security and absenteeism by judges and administrative staff.
Ban, Martin and other UN officials have called on Libyans to respect human rights and refrain from revenge.
Libya's acting justice minister had handed the UN mission in Libya a draft law on transitional justice, based on pinning down the truth behind human rights violations, reconciling Libyans, trying war criminals, and compensating victims.
The mission, known as UNSMIL, had offered to provide detailed comments on the draft and recommended that civil society be consulted over it, Ban said.
In another embarrassment for the new authorities, it is becoming clear that Gaddafi's right-hand man, Abdullah Senussi, who like Seif Al-Islam is wanted by the ICC on war crimes charges, has not been caught. The Fazzan Brigade, based in the southern city of Sabha, said they had caught him in his sister's house nearby on Sunday.
But they have failed to provide photographs or other confirmation to the central authorities. Mr Moreno-Ocampo said he believed he had not been caught.
A number of Libya's clans said on Wednesday that they would not recognise the new government, after the unveiling of a new cabinet revived regional rivalries which threaten the country's stability, three months after former leader Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule.
The NTC formed a new cabinet featuring several unexpected appointments that suggested the line-up was meant to calm rivalries between regional factions.
"All of Libya is represented," Abdul Rahim El-Keeb, Libya's prime minister, told a news conference on Tuesday night as he unveiled the line-up. "It is hard to say that any area is not represented."
About 150 people protested on Wednesday morning outside a hotel in the eastern city of Benghazi, holding up banners saying "No to a government of outsiders!".
he demonstration was led by members of the Benghazi-based Awagi and Maghariba tribes, who were angry their representatives were not in key posts.  
Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court's (ICC) chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Campo has reported to have agreed that Libya should be given the chance to put former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's son, Seif Al-Islam and  former spy chief Abdullah Al-Senussi on trial in Libya under its judicial system.
Seif is due to be interrogated by a committee established by the attorney-general's office within the next few days.
However, the ICC prosecutor pointed out that this should be done with the help of The Hague court and that the ICC's judges must be involved. Further discussions are needed to find the best way for the Libyans to go about informing the judges and how they could involve them. But a concession is to be made by the ICC despite Libya still having to set up a court system.
Arrest warrants for Seif Al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah Al-Senussi were issued by ICC judges on 27 June 2011 for crimes against humanity.