Libya's NTC lowers bar for starting election process

By Emad Omar

BENGHAZI, Libya Oct 3 (Reuters) - Libya's new rulers will set in motion the process of democratic elections once Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte is captured, instead of waiting until the whole country is under their control, the caretaker prime minister said on Monday.

The statement represented a shift from the previous position, which was that the plan for elections would not go into effect until Libya was "liberated" -- meaning that all pro-Gaddafi resistance was stamped out.

Some of the Libyan government's Western backers had expressed concerns that this timetable could leave the country in a political limbo for an extended period, exposing it to infighting and instability.

The interim government, or National Transitional Council (NTC), has decided to "announce liberation of the whole country once Sirte is liberated", de facto prime minister Mahmoud Jibril told a news conference in the Libyan city of Benghazi.

NTC forces are advancing towards the centre of Sirte on the Mediterranean coast, but Gaddafi loyalists are still holding firm in Bani Walid, southeast of Tripoli. They could take much longer to dislodge.

"The constitutional manifesto stated that the liberation would be achieved by controlling the country's air, sea and land outlets," said Jibril.

"Bani Walid doesn't have any outlets ... so it wouldn't stop the democratic process," he said. "Bani Walid would be dealt with as a renegade region."

The timetable for elections is set out in a constitutional declaration issued by the NTC last month.