20110407
Reuters
BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Nearly two months into their struggle to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's rebels lack a charismatic political or military leader who can articulate their cause and act as a flag-bearer for the people.

The revolutionary movement has set up a transitional national council headed by Mustafa Abdel Jalil and an "emergency crisis" team led by Mahmoud Jebril.

But they and other senior officials keep a low profile and have barely spoken to media, let alone turned out on the streets to mix with the people who clamour every day for Gaddafi to go.

There is no equivalent of Fidel Castro, who masterminded the Cuban revolution, or even Corazon Aquino, a figurehead for the Philippine popular revolt of 1986 despite her lack of political experience.

The first appearance by a senior official before the media for weeks was by a man who for years was intimately connected to Gaddafi, former interior minister Abdel Fattah Younes.

He defected to the rebel side and is now in charge of the army. Younes spent a news conference on Tuesday berating NATO for what he saw as its slack performance in bombing Gaddafi's forces, even though without such support the uprising would almost certainly have been crushed already.

He offered no concrete assessment on the state of the war and how realistic the dream of taking Tripoli was.

Crisis team head Jebril appears to be a mild-mannered man, whose name is on few lips.

Some of the foot soldiers say this is not a problem and shows the grassroots character of the uprising.

"There is no one to lead us. The people are leading this revolution. It is in the people's hands," said Halin al-Enesi, 19-year-old student taking part in a rally in Benghazi, the cradle of the revolution.

Asked who he thought headed the movement, he said: "I think it's Mustafa Abdel Jalil. We need this for the outside world."

Mohamad Messmari, a 26-year-old engineer, also said the Libyan people themselves were spearheading the uprising.

"Mustafa is not our leader. But we need a leader to organise our army at the frontline," he said.

Rebel officials said the lack of visible leadership was not necessarily negative.

"This is a people's uprising against something extremely evil. You will see leaders emerging after we have achieved our goal," said Jalal el-Galal, a member of the council's media committee.

"The West should not be fixed on photo calls. A lot of these people are not interested beyond the point of getting Gaddafi out."

FROM COURTHOUSE TO HOTEL

The leadership has now changed its main operating centre from a dilapidated courthouse on the Benghazi waterfront, festooned with banners and anti-Gaddafi posters, to the smart and secluded Al-Fadeel hotel.

There they receive envoys from Europe, the United States and elsewhere who are keen to know who exactly they are. A U.S. envoy, Chris Stevens, met council members there on Wednesday.

"They want to find out more about us as part of our desire to secure recognition. The discussion revolved around the members of the council and their nature," senior council member Abdel Hafiz Ghoga told a news conference.

Both the senior leaders are former Gaddafi men.

Abdel Jalil was Gaddafi's justice minister but quit in February over what he saw as the excessive use of violence against protesters in Benghazi at the uprising's start.

He has sometimes leaned towards negotiating with Tripoli, an idea rejected by other officials.

Mahmoud Jebril has spent most of his career abroad. He was head of Libya's state economic think-tank but resigned after Gaddafi overruled his suggestions for liberalising the economy.

He leads rebel diplomatic efforts.

Other officials are mostly businessmen, lawyers and others professionals, often U.S. or British-educated. The ranks of the rebel army and its supporters are filled with students and many unemployed people.

STARTING FROM SCRATCH

Officials stress the revolt was spontaneous, not planned, and structures and strategy have been created from scratch.

Under Gaddafi's rule, any political organising or protest was banned, so even basic organisation, including a reliable information flow, has been a struggle, they say, explaining the frequent chaos that occurs in day-to-day operations.

The movement is most clearly defined by what it stands against -- Gaddafi, who the revolutionaries ceaselessly denounce as a tyrant, a killer and a plunderer of Libya's wealth.

Its avowed hopes for a new Libya envisage a constitution, elections, and rule of law in a pro-Western, secular and capitalist society.

Its adherents also hope Libya's oil wealth -- little of which has trickled down to the masses -- will be used to rebuild the country.

Repeated confusion over the naming of officials hints at tensions within the council between those who want to move quickly to form a strong government and others who believe it would be illegitimate as long as the country is split in half.

Officials play down talk of policy disputes.

"Yes, there are some differences, but that's normal. In principle, everyone is going on the same direction," el-Galal said. "We are fighting a war, negotiating a system, keeping things going on the day-to-day level."

One dispute that did emerge was over the leadership of the armed forces.

Younes was initially named as its chief, then on March 24 Khalifa Hefta, a former Gaddafi officer who has spent many years in exile in the United States, was said to be in charge.

A week later, Hefta was out of the picture and Younes was declared to be leading field operations.

Asked about his fate, Younes said: "Hefta is my colleague and my friend. He does not have an official position. However, there is a place for everyone who helps to promote the revolution."