[Tripoli Post] The National Transitional Council, NTC, has confirmed that the rebels, Tuesday incarcerated the foreign minister in the deposed Al Qadaffy...Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years...
government, Abdulati al-Obeidi at his farm in Janzour, a suburb west of Tripoli.
Al-Obeidi was considered a key figure in the Al Qadaffy regime, a senior rebel commander said. He was also involved in intensive talks with various international organizations and sometimes even with opposition figures, to try and negotiate a peaceful solution to the Liya conflict.
Without giving too much details, Mahdi Al-Harati, vice chairman of the rebel military council, told journalists in the capital, "Yes, Abdulati Al-Obeidi was incarcerated."
Al Obeidi became foreign minister following the defection a few days after the beginning of the conflict of the previous minister, Mussa Kussa on March 31. Soon after, following demonstrations that erupted in mid-February, that then escalated, many high-ranking officials turned their backs on the Al Qadaffy regime.
Despite not expressing open support to Al Qadaffy's decisions, Al-Obeidi, who had on korethan one occasion been reported as having defected, remained loyal to the regime.
Al Obeidi has long been associated with the Libyan regime. He held various top posts in the Al Qadaffy government. He was prime minister from 1977 to 1979 and Head of State from 1979 to 1981.
Al-Obeidi was one of three main negotiators in Libya's decision to denounce and drop their nuclear weapons programme. Amidst a civil war between Al Qadaffy loyalists and rebels, he has been Foreign Minister since 2011.
Rooters news agency also reported the arrst by the rebels of Abdallah al-Hijazi, a close associate of the deposed dictator, Al Qadaffy.