Libyan labour minister defects in Geneva

Libyan Labour Minister Alami Manfor has confirmed, during an official visit to Geneva, that he is defecting.

Manfor told swissinfo.ch on Tuesday he disapproved of the “immoral methods” used by the Moammar Gaddafi regime towards the Libyan rebels.

He had travelled to the western Swiss city as head of the Libyan delegation attending the 100th International Labour Organisation conference, taking place from June 1 to June 17.

Manfor is reported to have announced his resignation to the Libyan Mission to the United Nations in Geneva on Monday evening.

“I’m announcing my departure from the Gaddafi government as minister of labour and employment,” he said on Tuesday.

The minister insisted that he did not plan to stay in Switzerland but would remain outside Libya before eventually travelling to the rebel-held city of Benghazi in the east of the country.

“I express my support to the rebels in building a democratic state in Libya in the near future,” Manfor said. He had been employment minister based in Tripoli since 2010.

“I always hoped that the regime would sit down with the rebels to listen to their legitimate demands but I only saw the use of weapons, contempt for human rights, smear campaigns and the use of immoral methods like causing chaos, buying people with money and resorting to the use of mercenaries,” he said.

“I am convinced that this regime can never be reformed.”

Manfor added that current Tripoli regime controlled the country’s entire resources including the assets of the Libyan central bank.

“[Gaddafi] can use them to buy fighters both inside and outside the country,” he added.