In a sign of the ambiguity of international policy toward Libya, Ali Suleiman Aujali, the diplomat who made headlines when he defected from the Gadafi Government in February, has registered as a foreign agent with the U.S. Justice Department to represent the Transitional National Council of Libya, the umbrella group representing the forces opposed to the rule of Muammar Gaddafi.

The State Department has not officially recognized the opposition rebels as the legitimate government of Libya. If it had, as the Foreign Agent Registration Unit notes on its website, no filing would be necessary. "Diplomats and officials of foreign ...