Mustafa Abdul Jalil

Mustafa Abdul Jalil ( ar, مصطفى عبد الجليل; also transcribed ''Abdul-Jelil, Abd-al-Jalil'', ''Abdel-Jalil'', ''Abdeljalil'' or ''Abdu Al Jeleil''; born 1952) is a Libyan politician who was the Chairman of the National Transitional Council from 5 March 2011 until its dissolution on 8 August 2012. This position meant he was ''de facto'' head of state during a transitional period after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's government in the Libyan Civil War, and until the handover of power to the General National Congress.

Before the war, Abdul Jalil served as Minister of Justice (officially, the Secretary of the General People's Committee of Justice) under Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. He was noted in some news media for his stance against various human rights violations in Libya, although Diana West accused him of intransigence during the Bulgarian nurses affair.

Career

After graduating from the department of Shari'a and Law in the Arabic Language and Islamic Studies faculty of University of Libya in 1975, Abdul Jalil was initially "assistant to the Secretary of the Public Prosecutor" in Beida, before being appointed a judge in 1978.

Abdul Jalil was a judge "known for ruling consistently against the regime," before becoming justice minister in 2007. In January 2010 he attempted to resign on national television over the government's failure to release political prisoners. His resignation was rejected. He resigned on 21 February 2011 after being sent to Benghazi to negotiate the release of hostages taken by rebels, being the first senior official to do so.

In classified US diplomatic cables leaked by the website WikiLeaks, he is described as open and cooperative. Following his resignation from Gaddafi's government in protest at its actions during the Libyan Civil War, a bounty of 500,000 dinars, roughly 400,000 USD, was announced for his capture.

Stances noted in the media

Pre-2011 protests

In August 2010, a representative of Human Rights Watch praised the fact that Abdul Jalil had "reportedly taken a strong stance against arbitrary arrests and prolonged detention without trial", commenting that:

In a paper published in November 2010, Amnesty International stated similarly, that:

Human Rights Watch made the same observations in its submission to the 2010 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

L'Express noted that before being named a minister of justice of Libya in 2007, he was the president of the Libyan Court of Appeal. The paper opined that Abdul Jalil was responsible for the "intransigence" of the court in confirming the death sentences in the "Bulgarian nurses" HIV trial under Gaddafi.

2011 protests and civil war

During the Libyan Civil War he was dispatched by Gaddafi's son to Benghazi to allegedly "negotiate the release of hostages taken by Islamists". On 21 February, the privately owned '' Quryna'' newspaper reported that he had resigned over "the excessive use of violence against anti-government protesters". On 22 February, he claimed in an interview with Swedish newspaper '' Expressen'' that he had proof Gaddafi had personally ordered the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. To date, he has not revealed this proof.

On 24 February, the BBC
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