Libya's Oil Head Has 'Defected'

The Wall Street Journal reports

DOHA (Zawya Dow Jones)--The head of Libya's National Oil Co., Shokri Ghanem, has 'defected' from the regime of Col. Moammar Gadhafi, the Libyan rebel oil and finance minister Ali Tarhouni said Tuesday.

"As far as I know he has defected," Tarhouni said in an interview during a visit to Doha, adding that he had heard Libya's top oil official had fled to neighboring Tunisia.

Tarhouni said it wasn't clear if Ghanem would play a role in helping the Libyan rebels resume producing oil in the east of the country.

"They [who] defect from the regime--it doesn't necessarily mean they will be part of the TNC [Transitional National Council]. Shokri Ghanem is not going to be a member of the TNC," he added.

A Tunisian security official confirmed that Ghanem was in Tunisia, but couldn't say whether he had defected. The official said that Ghanem has been on the southern Tunisian island of Djerba since Saturday.

Ghanem couldn't be reached for comment.