Libyan realignment cuts ties with Al-Fatah group

Libya's ruling General People's Congress ended a six-day conference in Tripoli Sunday after replacing six Cabinet ministers, among them the Libyan oil chief, and severing ties with the Palestinian Al-Fatah group, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi, although nominally secretary-general of the congress, did not attend any of the meetings.

ANSA quoted sources in Tripoli as saying the reason for the decision to withdraw recognition from Al-Fatah was that the group had moved away from guerrilla warfare as a means of achieving a Palestinian state.