Persian Realm

Mustapha  Ben Halim served as Prime Minister of Libya for three years, from 1954 to 1957, and after leaving office worked as an advisor to the country's ruler, King Idris. CNN's Becky Anderson sits down with former Libyan Prime Minister Mustapha Ben Hallim to talk about the country's future.

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(Related Photo Essay and Article Here) 

When Gadhafi snatched control of the country in a coup in 1969, the politician-turned-businessman was overseas. Unable to return home, he and his family moved to Beirut in Lebanon, before settling in Britain in the 1970s. Now, more than 40 years on, the 90-year old says he is hopeful of a brighter future for his homeland, as Gadhafi's grip on the country finally appears to be weakening.
"I think we will have a good future, provided we realize that our problems begin the day he goes -- they do not end there," he told CNN.

"The new people -- and I know some of them, and they are excellent people -- but they have to try to start making a real government, a government which guarantees freedom, a government with complete transparency, a government based on a good foundation.

"You have to build on a good basement, which is parliament, the voice of the people."

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VETERAN STATESMAN

Mustapha Ben Halim

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On Sky News:

Ben Halim Slams Gaddafi’s Claims that Al Quaeda Behind Revolution (BBC 4):

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LIBYA RECONNECTING WITH IT’S PAST


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Cyrenaica eastern coastal region of Libya :

Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya. Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part ofthe Creta et Cyrenaica province 
during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca. During the Islamic period, the area came tobe known as Barqa, 
after the city of Barca.

Cyrenaica was the name of an administrative division of Italian Libya from 1927, and in the Kingdom of Libya until 1963. In this wider sense, 
which still sees some use today, Cyrenaica comprises the entire eastern part of Libya, including the Al Kufrah District. It is 
adjacent to Tripolitania in the northwest and Fezzan in the southwest. What used to be Cyrenaica until 1963 is now divided up into 
several shabiyat (see administrative divisions in Libya).

Cyrenaica is the center of the Libyan Anti-Gaddafi forces of the 2011 Libyan uprising with the National Transitional Council based 
in the city of Benghazi.

Documentary on the Kingdom of Libya narrated by the Current Crown Prince:

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