Libya's interim parliament has chosen veteran dissident Mohammed al-Magariaf as its president, the official Libyan News Agency reported Thursday.
The election of al-Magariaf came just before midnight in an adjourned first session of the newly-elected National Congress, a day after the interim Transitional National Council formally handed over power to the new body, DPA reported.
Al-Magariaf, a former Libyan ambassador to India, is head of the centrist National Front party, which holds three of the Congress' 200 seats.
He defected from the regime of former leader Moamer Gaddafi in 1981, and subsequently played a leading role in the main exiled anti-Gaddafi opposition group, the National Front for the Salvation of Libya.
The National Congress' next task is to choose a prime minister, with a deadline of 30 days after the handover.