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BENGHAZI: Libyan rebels want to install a parliamentary democracy in place of longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi, one of their top leaders said Sunday, dismissing Western fears that their movement could be hijacked by Islamic extremists.
''Libyans as a whole, and I am one of them, want a civilian democracy, not dictatorship, not tribalism and not one based on violence or terrorism,'' Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga, vice chairman of the National Provisional Council, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The movement has faced questions about its character and goals from many Western nations even as they delivered the international airstrikes that have pounded Gadhafi's military forces.
So far the airstrikes have not been enough to give rebel fighters the upper hand over Gadhafi's superior troops, and Western officials are debating whether arming the rebels should be the next step.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Sunday that his country would neither arm the rebels nor send ground troops to Libya, in comments that reflected the confusion among foreign governments about the rebel movement's nature.
''We have taken no decision to arm the rebels, the opposition, the pro-democracy people, whatever one wants to call them,'' he told the BBC.
While acknowledging the importance of Islam in Libyan society, Ghoga insisted that ''there is no place for an Islamic state in Libya.''
''Will we accept an extremist government? Never,'' he said, dressed in a pinstriped blue suit with a pin of Libya's pre-Gadhafi flag on his lapel.
''We will not accept radicalism, terrorism or dictatorship. We want a democratic state based on a multiparty system, the peaceful transfer of power, separation of powers, and for Libya to have, from the beginning, a constitution,'' he said.
Sunday's fighting was concentrated around the strategic oil town of Brega, as it has been repeatedly during weeks of back-and-forth battle along Libya's eastern coast. The rebels, backed by airstrikes, made incremental advances.
Sunday, rebels fired truck-mounted rocket launchers, then moved to avoid government counter-strikes, suggesting improving tactics and training.
