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"Yes, he has resigned," Abdel Rahim al-Kib told reporters, adding the minister had quit for health reasons. Sharkass stood down in the wake of days of demonstrations in the capital and in the eastern city of Benghazi demanding that officials who served under dead dictator Qadhafi be excluded from public life in the new Libya. He had also served in Qadhafi's economy ministry. The protesters has also demanded that former officials and "opportunists" be excluded, that the right to freedom of expression be guaranteed, that the authorities act transparently and that young people be better represented.