Liberal bloc leads without majority

Libya's liberal coalition beat Islamist parties in the first poll since the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi, according to results unveiled Tuesday -- but it remained unclear who will dominate the next congress.
The National Forces Alliance, a liberal coalition led by wartime prime minister Mahmud Jibril, gained 39 of 80 seats open to parties in the General National Congress, the first elected authority after more than four decades of dictatorship.
The Justice and Construction Party, which was launched by Libya's Muslim Brotherhood, took only 17 seats. The remainder of party seats went to a constellation of smaller parties, according to the electoral commission's preliminary figures.
The complete tally, however, does not paint a clear picture about who will dominate the incoming congress, where the majority of seats -- 120 of 200 -- were reserved for individual candidates.
The two leading parties are courting independents and smaller entities in a bid to form a dominant bloc within the congress, where major decisions and legislation require a two-thirds majority to pass.
If liberals do manage to hold sway over the assembly, Libya, unlike neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt whose strongmen were also toppled in last year's Arab Spring, will buck the trend of electoral success for Islamist movements.