Special to USAfricaonline.com
AFP/Rome: Libyan Oil Minister Shukri Ghanem announced Wednesday he had resigned and left Libya to join the uprising against Moamer Kadhafi “to fight for a democratic country,” Italian news agency ANSA reported.
“I can’t work in this situation so I have left my country and my job to join the choice made by young Libyans to fight for a democratic country,” he said in Rome, following weeks of rumours and denials about his defection.
“There is a lot of internal and external pressure in Libya right now… There could be many solutions, including a peaceful solution,” he said.
Ghanem added though that he was not working with the National Transitional Council in Benghazi, the main rebel administration in eastern Libya.
Italy’s foreign ministry denied any role in arranging Ghanem’s presence in the country but welcomed the announcement, after eight Libyan military officers this week announced their defection at a press conference in Rome.
“We are following the process of defections which we welcome with satisfaction,” ministry spokesman Maurizio Massari told AFP, adding that Ghanem would not be meeting any Italian officials during his stay.
Ghanem was reported as saying that he had arrived in Rome on Tuesday.
He initially travelled to Tunisia on May 14, sparking rumours that he was defecting. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on May 20 said he had abandoned the regime but this was denied by a Libyan government spokesman
Chido, I understand there have been defections by five of Khaddafi's generals to the rebels.