Libya: Opposition Minister of Finance "We Have Only 1000 Trained Fighters" (Fahim)

Photo: Scott NelsonUPDATE 0815 GMT: Opposition spokesman Mustafa Gheriani, a former construction worker, has told the BBC that there are 17,000 insurgents in the field, but most of them are not proper soldiers. Many are civilians, such as music teachers, pastry cooks and accountants. Replying to the suggestion that the fighters are chaotic, Gheriani says, "That's not fair. A learning curve is taking place right now."
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Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Ali Tarhouni, the Minister of Finance in the Libyan opposition's "interim government", offered a series of assertions and admissions. Kareem Fahim writes for The New York Times:

After the uprising, the rebels stumbled as they tried to organize. They did a poor job of defining themselves when Libyans and the outside world tried to figure out what they stood for. And now, as they try to defeat Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s armed forces and militias, they will have to rely on allied airstrikes and young men with guns because the army that rebel military leaders bragged about consists of only about 1,000 trained men.

Those frank admissions came from Ali Tarhouni, who was appointed to the cabinet of the rebels’ shadow government on Wednesday as finance minister. Mr. Tarhouni, who teaches economics at the University of Washington, returned to Libya one month ago after more than 35 years in exile to advise the opposition on economic matters. The rebels are proclaiming his American credentials — he has a doctorate from Michigan State University — as they seek foreign recognition of their cause.

“He understands the Western mentality,” said Iman Bugaighis, a spokeswoman for the fledgling opposition government.

But more important, Mr. Tarhouni, 60, who briefed journalists on Wednesday night, appeared to be one of the few rebel officials willing to speak plainly about the movement’s shortcomings and challenges, after weeks of rosy predictions and distortions by some of his colleagues, especially regarding the abilities of the rebel fighters.

“The process was, and is, very chaotic,” Mr. Tarhouni said.

His appointment came as the rebels were held back for another day outside Ajdabiya in the east, a city controlled, and besieged, by government forces for more than a week. With artillery fire and missile strikes, Colonel Qaddafi’s forces have kept the rebels far from the northern entrance to the city, as fears mount about the fate of the civilians inside.

Mr. Tarhouni said he was hopeful that the rebels would be able to retake Ajdabiya soon, and face less resistance from government troops as they progressed toward Surt, a Qaddafi stronghold. “If Ajdabiya is liberated, I think the dynamics will change,” he said.

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