"I would like to assure the international community that we as Libyans are Muslims but moderate Muslims," Mustafa Abdel Jalil said at a news conference in the eastern city of Benghazi.

On Sunday, Abdel Jalil announced that a free Libya would base its laws on sharia (Islamic jurisprudence), at a ceremony during which the country was was declared "liberated" following the capture and killing of ousted despot Muammar Gaddafi.