BENGHAZI?Libya's former justice minister said late on Saturday that he had formed a transitional government which would lead the country for three months to prepare for elections.

Mustafa Abdel Jalil, who quit Moamer Kadhafi's regime last Monday in protests at the killing of demonstrators, said the transitional government includes military as well as civilian representatives.

"Our national government has military and civilian personalities. It will lead for no more than three months, and then there will be fair elections and the people will choose their leader," he told Al-Jazeera television in a live interview.

Abdel Jalil was speaking from Al-Baida, east of Benghazi, which has been the hub of an anti-government rebellion that left many eastern cities free of Kadhafi's 41-year rule.

It was not immediately clear whether other cities that liberated themselves had coordinated the move with Abdel Jalil.

Abdel Hafiz Ghoqa, a spokesman for civic organisers in Benghazi, had earlier Saturday announced the formation of a city council there, which would send representatives to other cities to coordinate with similar organisations.

He said each council's coordinator would eventually become a member of a transitional government.

No clearly established leadership hierarchy has emerged in newly-liberated eastern Libya since the anti-regime protests began on February 15.

Abdel Jalil ruled out any negotiations with Kadhafi, saying the embattled leader must step down.

He added that Islam would be a reference point for the government, which would "respect all religions".