Ali Suleiman Aujali - the new face of the revolution?

Turncoats from the old regime often have a fundamental role in creating a new order. Juan Ponce Enrile, Ferdinand Marcos’s defence minister and general Fidel Ramos both had a crucial role in the 1986 People Power Movement that ousted Marcos and installed Corozon Aquino to power in the Philippines.  In 1989, Ion Illiescu – a member of the central committee of the Communist Party – also emerged as the leader of the revolution which toppled Nicolae Ceausescu in Romania.

In Libya, Mustafa Mohamed Abud Al Jeleil served as the Justice Minister of the regime before condemning “the excessive use of violence against government protesters,” on Monday 21 February in the first days of the revolt.

Immediately after resigning he was quick to denounce the regime in an interview with Swedish newspaper Espressen where he hit the international headlines claiming  he had proof Gaddafi gave the order for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people.

In another interview he compared Gaddafi to Hitler. “He will do what Hitler did - he will take his own life."

Who is Abdel Al Jeleil?

The picture emerging of Abdel Al Jeleil before defecting to the rebels is that of a compassionate but largely impotent figure.

In August 2010, a representative of Human Rights Watch praised the fact that Al Jeleil had "has reportedly taken a strong stance against arbitrary arrests and prolonged detention without trial". He was also praised for publicly criticizing the security agencies for detaining prisoners, despite the fact that they have been acquitted by the courts noting that that the Internal Security Agency and the Ministry of Interior have been ignoring court orders.

In a paper published in November 2010, Amnesty International made similar observations. “At least 200 others remain detained after serving their sentences or being acquitted by courts. Justice Minister Mostafa Abdeljalil has publicly called for the release of these prisoners, but the Internal Security Agency, which holds them, refuses to comply... Justice Minister Abdel Al Jeleil has said that he is unable to order an investigation into abuses by Internal Security Agency Officers because they have immunity. Only the Interior Ministry can waive immunity, but it has consistently refused to do so, he said”.

Abdel Jeleil attempts to investigate the Abu Slaim killings (a massacre of 1200 prisoners in the Aby Slaim jail) were also quashed by the regime.

In a report issued in December 2009 Human Rights Watch described him as “one of the Libyan authorities seeking to address the issue through the legal framework”.

But the organisation notes that the Libyan minister was unable to obtain all the relevant information about the Abu Salim killings from the Internal Security Agency. In April 2008, in interview with Libyan newspaper Al Youm, he revealed that his ministry had asked Internal Security for the list of those who died in the 1996 incident but had been unable to obtain the precise information.

From Minister to opposition leader?

Al Jeleil took a prominent role chairing a meeting of  opposition politicians, former millitary officers, tribal leaders, academics and businessmen held a meeting of in the eastern city of Al Bayda on 24 February. Dispelling prospects of secession, The delegates stressed the importance of national unity. The efforts to form an alternative government were also  supported by the Libyan ambassador in the United States, Ali Suleiman Aujali.

On Saturday night Al Jeleil announced he would head a provisional government from the rebel-held east and called for elections in just three months.

The National Libyan Council was officially launched in a press conference on 27 February 2011 to act as "the political face of the revolution". But contradicting Abdel Al Jaleil, spokesman Hafiz Ghoga, a human rights lawyer who was imprisoned just before Libya's revolt began on February 15, insisted that the national council is not a provisional government. He said he was the spokesman for the new council, but he would not identify any other members or give further details.

Ghoga also told reporters that even if there were a provisional government, it would certainly not be headed by Abdel-Jalil - who only heads the local city council in the town of Beyda, some 130 miles (200 kilometres) away.

Instead, Ghoga said representatives of rebel-held cities in the east are setting up the Libyan National Transitional Council. But the council has not yet been formed and he did not announce any of the members, except for himself as the spokesman.