Libya has named the interim Cabinet of a transitional government whose mission is to govern until next year, when the country plans to hold the first parliamentary elections of the post-Moammar Gadhafi era. Here are profiles of some of the leading Cabinet members appointed Tuesday, November 22.

Defense Minister Osama al-Juwali

Juwali is a militia commander from the town of Zintan in Libya's Western Mountains region. His forces played a major role in an offensive by transitional forces that ousted Gadhafi from power in Tripoli in August. Juwali's men also captured the late dictator's son and heir apparent, Seif al-Islam, in the country's southern desert November 19. The younger Gadhafi had spent months on the run.

Interior Minister Fawzi Abdelali

Abdelali is a militia leader from the western city of Misrata, Libya's third-largest. Anti-Gadhafi militiamen in Misrata resisted a months-long siege by Gadhafi forces during this year's uprising and later went on the offensive by storming into Tripoli, the dictator's power base.

Foreign Minister Ashour Bin Khayyal

Khayyal is a former diplomat who served under Gadhafi as Libyan ambassador to Canada in the 1980s. He later joined the Libyan opposition.

Finance Minister Hassan Ziglam

Ziglam is a former executive of the Libyan National Oil Company. Libya's economy relies on oil production for most of its exports and national income.

Oil and Gas Minister Abdelrahman bin Yazza

Yazza is a former executive at Italian energy company Eni, the largest foreign oil producer in Libya before the war.

Justice Minister Ali Hameda Ashour

Ashour faces a major challenge in overseeing a Libyan trial for Moammar Gadhafi's son Seif al-Islam. Libya lacks an established legal system because the elder Gadhafi deliberately weakened state institutions during his 42-year rule. The International Criminal Court has urged the transitional government to ensure that Seif al-Islam is treated fairly and faces justice for his role in suppressing the uprising.

Youth and Sport Minister Fethi Tarbel

Tarbel is a lawyer who was arrested by Gadhafi's security forces in February 2011 while representing families of detainees massacred at Tripoli's Abu Salim prison in 1996. His arrest prompted street protests in the eastern city of Benghazi and sparked a wider anti-Gadhafi rebellion that spread across the country.