Libya leader says 'civil war' possible if NTC quits

 Libyan leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil has said the nation would fall into a ''civil war'' if the ruling National Transitional Council resigned, as it faced its first major challenge.

Angry protests in the eastern city of Benghazi -- the city which first rebelled against Kadhafi last year -- have dealt a severe blow to the NTC's functioning. It led its deputy head Abdel Hafiz Ghoga to resign yesterday, three days after furious students had manhandled him.
"We are not going to resign because it would lead to civil war," NTC head Abdel Jalil said in an interview on the Libya al-Hurra television station late yesterday as protests raged in Benghazi.

Abdel Jalil said some "hidden hands" were "pushing the demonstrators."
"Who is pushing these sit-ins prompting protesters to invade the headquarters of the council with such savagery?," the new Libya's leader said, referring to the attack on NTC offices in Benghazi Saturday.

Crowds of protesters threw several home-made grenades at and stormed the NTC offices with iron rods and stones before setting the building's front ablaze, witnesses and council members said.

They even threw plastic bottles at Abdel Jalil, who is respected across Libya for his active role in the anti-Kadhafi rebellion. He had to be escorted out of the premises.

Benghazi protesters rampaged through the NTC's offices, denouncing what they said is a "non-transparent" body. The protesters also accused the NTC of having marginalised some wounded veterans of the uprising that toppled Moamer Kadhafi in favour of people who were previously loyal to the slain dictator.

Defending the NTC and its work, Abdel Jalil paid tribute to Ghoga, despite the fury of the protesters.

"We must praise the role played by Abdel Hafiz Ghoga. He chose his country before himself," Abdel Jalil said. His onetime deputy had supported the anti-Kadhafi revolution when others "were in Egypt or hidden elsewhere."