Peter Symonds: NATO's Pupet Regime In Libya Falls Apart!

The sacking of the entire Benghazi-based Libyan opposition cabinet this week has exposed the anti-democratic, faction-riven character of the regime that the US and its European allies are seeking to impose on Libya. The self-proclaimed Transitional National Council is now facing a military stalemate in efforts to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi due to its lack of popular support, is being consumed by violent internal conflicts. TNC President Abdul Mustafa Jalil ordered the dismissal of the TNC's so-called prime minister, was kept on to form the next cabinet. In a further sign of disarray, Jalil insisted that members of various autonomous militias operating broadly under the TNC's banner, had to integrate into its armed forces as individuals rather than units. Jalil was acting under demands for justice from Younis's family members and the powerful Obeidi tribe, and was under pressure from the February 17 Coalition, a secular grouping of Libyan judges and lawyers, critical of the growing influence of Islamists within the TNC. As it announced the sackings, a TNC spokesman declared that the cabinet was responsible for "improper administrative procedures" that led to Younis's death. No official explanation has been given for the arrest and killing of Younis, which has been the subject of bitter recriminations. He was Gaddafi's interior minister before defecting to the Benghazi opposition, along with the Special Forces troops under his command. Those close to Younis have accused an Islamist militia of killing him, to avenge the general's savage repression of an Islamist uprising in the mid-1990's, and to block his efforts to bring TNC military units under his unified command.