Man who was catalyst of uprising made a minister

The man whose arrest in February sparked Libya’s revolution was sworn in as a minister in the interim government yesterday, but said he had been hesitant about taking on the new job.

Fethi Tarbel, Libya’s new sport and youth minister, wiped away tears after he took a pledge of allegiance to Libya.

Standing in front of prime minister Abdurrahim El-Keib and National Transitional Council chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil, Mr Tarbel, 39, was among a small group of ministers who were not part of the first inauguration of Libya’s government last month.

Mr Tarbel, a human rights activist and lawyer who represented families of the Abu Salim prison massacre in 1996, was arrested in Benghazi in February.

His detention sparked a demonstration by families of the victims in the eastern town’s Shajara Square on the night of 15-16 February. They were then dispersed by police, which sparked larger riots on 17 February that began Libya’s uprising.