Militia leader named as Libyan defense minister

TRIPOLI, Libya - A militia leader from Zintan has been named as the defense minister of Libya's coming interim government, local revolutionary council sources told Xinhua Tuesday.

"Osama el-Joily has been nominated as the new defense minister by the interim Prime Minister Abdel Rahim el-Keeb," said the sources, who required anonymity.

"He has a long experience in the army and has a good reputation nationwide. We respect him very much," said the sources.

"And now his men caught (Gaddafi's son) Saif al-Islam. No one can compete with him," they said.

Keeb is supposed to announce the line-up of the interim government Tuesday. The announcement has been delayed for several times due to lack of consensus.