Libyan Oil Minister Says Joining Rebellion

Libyan Oil Minister Shukri Ghanem announced Wednesday in Italy that he had resigned and left Libya to join the uprising against Moammar Gadhafi "to fight for a democratic country."

"I can't work in this situation so I have left my country and my job to join the choice made by young Libyans to fight for a democratic country," he told journalists, following weeks of rumors and denials about his defection.

"There is a lot of internal and external pressure in Libya right now... There could be many solutions, including a peaceful solution," he said.

Ghanem, the head of the state-run National Oil Corporation (NOC), who has been Libya's representative at the OPEC oil cartel for years, said his country was "moving towards a total block on oil production."

"Only very little is being produced for security reasons, because it's not possible to export it, because of the U.N. embargo and the fact that the foreigners have all left," he said.

Ghanem added though that he was not working with the National Transitional Council in Benghazi, the main rebel administration in eastern Libya.

"I worked in Libya for many years, thinking I could make changes from the inside. This is not possible, especially now we see blood being shed," he said.

Italy's foreign ministry denied any role in arranging Ghanem's presence in the country but welcomed the announcement, after eight Libyan military officers this week announced their defection at a press conference in Rome.

"We are following the process of defections which we welcome with satisfaction," ministry spokesman Maurizio Massari told Agence France Press, adding that Ghanem would not be meeting any Italian officials during his stay.

Ghanem said that he had arrived in Rome on Tuesday.

He initially travelled to Tunisia on May 14, sparking rumors that he was defecting. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on May 20 said he had abandoned the regime but this was denied by a Libyan government spokesman.