National Congress Leader Magarief Says Libya Should Be a “Secular State”

Somewhere on the list of Libyan priorities after forming a new cabinet, disarmament of militias, and job creation is the writing of a new constitution. If President of Libya's General National Congress Mohamad Magariaf has his say, then the new Libya would be a "secular state" in which the character of the state and its laws would be influenced by the religious nature of the Libyan people in a manner compliant with the Islamic sharia, but without control from an official religious body. Will the Islamic sharia be "a source" or "the source" of legislation in the new constitution? Only time will tell. The Libya Herald has some excellent analysis of the original Al-Hayat interview with GNC President Magariaf here: National Congress Leader Magarief Says Libya Should Be a “Secular State” In the post 17 February Revolution Libya, there is a great battle, sometimes armed and violent, to impose a particular interpretation of Islam on all of Libyan society.If what Magarief purported to the Al-Hayat newspaper is an accurate and true representation of what the head of the GNC thinks and believes, it will definitely position him nearer the non-Islamist bloc of Jibril’s NFA rather than the Justice and Construction party bloc.