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 Jaleel and an “emergency crisis” team led by Mahmoud Jibreel. 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 clamor 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 Abdul Fatah Younes. He defected to the rebel side and is now in charge of the army. Younes spent a news conference 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 Jibreel 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 rally in Benghazi, the cradle of the revolution. Asked who he thought headed the movement, he said: “I think its Mustafa Abdel Jaleel. 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 organize 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 Elgallal, 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.” The leadership has now changed its main operating center from the 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 US envoy, Chris Stevens, met council members there 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 Hafid Ghoga told a news conference. Both the senior leaders are former Gaddafi men. Mustafa 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 toward 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 liberalizing the economy. He leads rebel diplomatic efforts. Other officials are mostly businessmen, lawyers and others professionals, often US or British-educated. The ranks of the rebel army and its supporters are filled with students and many unemployed people. Officials stress the revolt was spontaneous, not planned, and structures and strategy have been created from scratch. The movement is most clearly defined by what it stands against - Gaddafi, who they 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. 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,” Elgallal 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.”
