Libyan intelligence No. 2, health minister join rebels

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The second in command of Libya’s intelligence services and Muammar Gaddafi’s health minister declared their allegiance to rebel forces during interviews aired on Al Arabiya television.

The deputy director of foreign security in the Libyan intelligence service, General Khalifah Mohammed Ali, and Health Minister Mohammed Hijazi, are among a growing number of Libyan officials who have switched sides since rebels gained the upper hand in the fight to end Gaddafi’s 42-year-old rule.
“I put myself in the service of the nation and call on generals and soldiers who are the sons of Libya to join the 17th February revolution,” Gen. Ali said in the interview with the Dubai-based satellite channel, Reuters reports.

In a rolling banner headline, Arabiya said the general had left his post.

In a separate interview later on Wednesday, Hijazi said he had been planning to leave Gaddafi’s health ministry for two months. “But I did not feel safe for my life,” he said, adding that things have changed with the rebels’ entry to Tripoli.

But he cautioned that things were still not easy, despite the rebel control of Tripoli.
“The (Gaddafi) regime has its tactics and tricks, and it can do anything. I warn the rebels to be careful,” he said, without elaborating.