He's got that page-one AmeriKan stamp of approval!
"Libyan reformer now face of rebellion; US-educated professor gains confidence of Western leaders" by Farah Stockman, Globe Staff / March 28, 2011
"Libyan reformer now face of rebellion; US-educated professor gains confidence of Western leaders" by Farah Stockman, Globe Staff / March 28, 2011
WASHINGTON — He arrived in a suit, without an entourage. One day after US missiles began striking Moammar Khadafy’s forces, the balding, US-educated professor met Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts at a hotel in Cairo to outline his vision for Libya’s future.
Mahmoud Jibril, a reform-minded former Libyan official and the face of the rebel movement to the West, has played a key role in persuading the United States and its allies to offer a lifeline to Libya’s rebellion.
“He makes a case that people want to hear,’’ said an aide to Kerry who was not authorized to be quoted by name. “He seems to represent the kind of moderation that people want to see in a new Libyan government.’’
Those who have met him — including Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France — have emerged from their meetings more confident that Libya’s fledgling opposition is steered by democratic and Western-leaning visionaries, not Islamic extremists.
Related:
Commander: Signs of Al Qaeda
Gimme an 'effin break, will ya?
But Jibril, who earned a PhD in political science from the University of Pittsburgh, also underscores a major weakness of the movement to topple Khadafy: their lack of military might. Seven members of the 31-person interim council set up to coordinate the opposition are university professors, while only three are generals, according to a US official who has met with the opposition.
“They are students and professors. They are not professional fighters,’’ said Ali Aujali, who resigned as Libya’s ambassador to the United States to support the opposition. Aujali made an urgent public appeal on Thursday for the United States to provide weapons, training, and logistical support to the rebels....
HERE WE GO AGAIN!!
Jibril has become one of the opposition’s most potent weapons since the rebellion broke out in February. In meetings with US and European officials, he brandishes plans to start a central bank, a national oil company, and a television station in rebel-held territory, a sign that he is preparing for a long struggle. He gives rousing speeches, pledging to hold free elections....
I can see why the paper is promoting him.
Jibril headed an economic planning board that was the nation’s preeminent think tank on the economy and traveled to Houston two years ago to meet with US oil executives, said Aujali, who accompanied him....
Is there really a need for me to comment? Draw your own conclusions.
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