20110927
Reuters
TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's new rulers plan to abolish the state security courts used by Muammar Gaddafi to imprison political dissidents, the country's interim justice minister said on Monday.

Mohammed al-Alagi told a news conference the proposal had been formulated by judicial experts and would be put forward shortly to the leadership of the Transitional National Council, Libya's unelected caretaker leadership, for approval.

His announcement was greeted by several journalists and human rights activists with applause and a cry of Allahu Akbar (God is greatest).

"The Higher Council of Judicial Bodies has decided to abolish the State Security Courts and the office of the Prosecutor of State Security," he said.

The state security judicial system jailed thousands of political dissidents and people suspected of opposition to Gaddafi's four-decade strongman rule, brought to an end last month when the capital Tripoli fell to opposition forces following a six-month uprising.

During Gaddafi's rule an unknown number of Libyans were executed for offences deemed a threat to the state, but there is as yet no authoritative estimate of the number, lawyers say.