Prominent Libyan Islamist joins NTC-linked group

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - An influential Libyan Islamist cleric who has criticised the country's new leaders joined a group affiliated with the interim ruling National Transitional Council on Wednesday, in what could be a sign of the growing clout of religious figures. "I joined the National Group for Work to cooperate with them ... as I think that all political forces should be involved in building the nation," Ali al-Sallabi told Reuters. The National Group for Work is a branch of the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) charged with building bridges between Libya's political groups. Since the fall of Tripoli two months ago, Sallabi has emerged as a prominent spokesman for groups of Islamists unhappy about what they see as attempts by secular NTC leaders to exclude them from political life. Last month, Sallabi called on Libya's interim prime minister Mahmoud Jibril to resign over what he said was a failure to supply ammunition to troops fighting forces still loyal to ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi. He said his opinion on the Libyan government had not changed: "I still don't think that the prime minister and some ministers are efficient for their posts. And the most important thing in this period is national efficiency." Although he has no formal political role, Sallabi is an influential voice in Libyan affairs because of his good relations with Qatar, a wealthy backer of the NTC, and has a wide network of contacts in global Islamist circles. He was jailed in the 1980s for opposition activities. Some Libyan secularists suspect that he wants to introduce a severe form of law to the country. He denies that and says he favours moderate Islam. (Reporting by Ali Shuaib and Yasmine Saleh; Writing by Yasmine Saleh; Editing by Peter Graff)