NTC issues a pardon law, claiming controlling Kufra

The first anniversary of the February 17 revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi regime Tripoli – Emad Agag Libya’s political and field situation has developed rapidly, before days of the first anniversary of the February 17 revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi regime, as the ruling National Transitional Council NTC issued a pardon law which includes all crimes took place before the revolution, excepting murdering, rapping, torturing and crimes relate to public money, claiming taking control of Kufra that witnessed three days of fighting between tribal militias that have left 17 dead.
The Libyan capital, Tripoli, is tense this week as the country prepares to mark the anniversary of its 17 February revolution, amid claims by a son of the former dictator Muammar Gaddafi that an uprising is imminent.
Saadi Gaddafi, who fled Libya for exile in Niger, was quoted at the weekend saying that a loyalist uprising will happen "everywhere in the country".
Gaddafi told Al-Arabiya TV in a telephone interview that he would return to his country where, he said, a nationwide rebellion was brewing against its new rulers.
He said: “I will return to Libya at any time. There is a rebellion that is going on day after day, and there will be a rebellion in the entire country." He added that the Libyan people were ruled "by gangs".
After his interview, Libya's NTC renewed its call to the Niger authorities to extradite Saadi Gaddafi, saying that relations between the two neighbours were at risk.
Niger officials said they will not extradite 38-year-old Saadi Gaddafi even though the son of the former Libyan dictator has violated his asylum conditions with his "subversive" comments in an Al Arabiya television interview.
Niger government spokesperson Marou Amadou told reporters in Niamey, the Niger's position remains the same. “We will hand Saadi Gaddafi to a government that has an independent and impartial justice system."
Saadi's comments have added to an already febrile situation in a country where the governing NTC has failed to exert control over Libya's disparate militias.
The capital is dotted with vehicle checkpoints, with concerns that loyalist groups may be planning bomb attacks as Libyans take to the streets to mark the overthrow of the dictatorship.
On Monday, the NTC announced the allocation of seats for the country’s first, post-revolution parliament, to be elected in June. The west, including Tripoli and the Nafusa mountains, will have 102 seats; the east, including Benghazi where the anti-Gaddafi uprising began, will have 60; the south will have 29; and central cities including Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte will have 9.
The national congress will be tasked with forming a new government and establishing a committee to write a constitution.
Libya is set to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the start of the anti-Gaddafi uprising on February 17. NTC Interior Minister Fawzy Abdel-Aal told reporters Sunday that the country is on high alert because of Gaddafi’s son statement.
While the incidents of militia-on-militia violence in Tripoli itself are now down to about one a week – a marked improvement – skirmishes outside the main cities are a constant problem.
Three days of fighting between tribal militias in the southern town of Kufra have left 17 dead.
The governments own national army is distrusted by many militias because it is controlled by Gaddafi-era officers, and because distrust of the NTC is running high.
The NTC claimed that Libyan government forces on Tuesday took control of the south-eastern town of Kufra after days of clashes with gunmen loyal to Gaddafi that killed 17 people, while eyewitnesses confirmed to ‘Arabstoday’ that the clashes are continuing.