SUMMARY
The NTC (National Transitional Council of Libya; also referred to by reporting as TNC, Libyan rebels, Free Libyan Army, National Liberation army and the Libyan National Army) was an umbrella organization established in opposition to then-President of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, on 27 February 2011. Its forces captured Tripoli and took over as Government of Libya on 26 August 2011, after which it ruled in the interim before holding elections on 7 July 2012 and handing authority over to the elected General National Congress on 9 August 2012. The NTC emerged in the context of the Arab Spring, which had spawned sizeable anti-regime protests throughout North Africa and the Middle East. In Libya, the protests were met with excessive violence and in reaction to this; the NTC emerged as the political front for the revolution. It did not have an established armed wing but included a myriad of loosely organized armed groups fighting, under joint command and using the same flag, for the same publicly stated NTC goal to oust Gaddafi from power.
The NTC was officially formed by Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the former Libyan Minister of Justice, with the purpose to act as the "political face of the revolution". Jalil was known for being outspoken against the Gaddafi regime’s security and justice practices and had resigned from the Gaddafi government only six days before forming the NTC in response to the excessive violence used by the regime against protestors. The council was based in Benghazi and comprised of 33 influential Libyan members including political defectors, freedom fighters, Libyan diaspora and religious leaders, although this later grew to 51 members in total. Mahmoud Jibril served as Head of the Executive Board; previously he had studied abroad before working in the Gaddafi government as head of the National Planning Council for Libya between 2007 and 2011.
After declaring itself the sole representative organization for Libya on 5 March 2011 and issuing a roadmap for the governance of Libya to transition to a democratically elected General National Congress, the NTC quickly received international support and recognition from most countries including the UN. Two of its strongest supporters were Qatar and France, with whom it quickly made oil agreements. The NTC fighting forces benefited from UN Security Council Resolution 1973, which permitted a coalition of the willing to implement a no-fly zone over Libya. Several countries supported the NTC fighting forces, mostly with arms but also with funds, training and communications equipment including: Egypt, France, Italy, Poland, Qatar, Sudan and United Arab Emirates. The United Kingdom and the United States of America supported the NTC financially and with equipment other than arms whilst the United Arab Emirates provided telecom equipment that greatly facilitated NTC’s ability to coordinate their attacks. Of all its external supporters, Qatar was amongst the largest contributors with hundreds of troops deployed on the group to support the NTC with training and communications. It was not confirmed whether Qatari troops on the ground also engaged directly in fighting on behalf of the NTC.
