Rebel-held east Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) said on Friday it had named officials to a number of portfolios including defence, part of its efforts to set up an effective and united administration.

Some in Libya and abroad have expressed concern about divisions within the council and its ability to run the east of the country, which have been outside the control of leader Muammar Gaddafi for weeks.

A new oil chief was not on the list of new appointments. Restarting oil exports from the east is a major goal of the NTC to generate the funds to pay state workers and fight Gaddafi's forces.

An NTC media worker who asked not to be identified confirmed the long expected resignation of former oil boss Wahid Bugaighis, following differences with Agoco, the company that runs some of Libya's most important oil fields. The media worker said a replacement would be announced soon.

Libyan army retiree Jallal El Digheily is now in charge of defence, with a mandate the media worker said included overall control of the military.

The NTC has in the past said Abdel Fattah Younes, Gaddafi's former interior minister who defected early in the rebellion, was leading the military campaign against Gaddafi's forces, but there have been divisions over the role.

In March, a rebel spokesman said Khalifa Heftar, a former military commander who supported the 1969 coup that brought Gaddafi to power before breaking with the Libyan leader in 1987, was the true army leader.

Reuters