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At midnight tonight, October 31, 2011, NATO forces will leave Libya. Whether special operation forces will still have a presence in the country is not clear. Western governments would of course say, no they would not.

One more step on the road to democracy has been taken today as Libya appointed its interim Prime Minster.

He has been named as Abdel Rahim al-Kib who was previously an electronics engineer and academic. It could be that his face is familiar to you, as he has been shown on western TV plenty in recent weeks. As part of the NTC, National Transitional Council of Libya, he has played a leading role.
He has always given a calm, logical and intelligent view of matters but other than that his political skills will be few. Will he simply be a puppet of the West? That too remains to be seen.

Tthe NTC hopes to have an elected government within eight months but there is still much to do. Apart from the physical and structural damage to Libya there are mental and social scars. More than anything Libya needs to be able to unify its people.

The interim PM was elected having received 26 of the 51 votes from NTC members.  He beat four other candidates. Well at least he was not just appointed, although he has not yet been chosen by the people. This will take time.

By 2013 the NTC hope that there will be multi-party elections in Libya. Having fought hard and lost so much you have to wish Libya and its people the luck needed.