CARACAS, Feb 26, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Venezuela's Attorney General Tarek William Saab, a key ally of ousted president Nicolas Maduro, has resigned from his post, less than two months after the US military deposed Maduro, the National Assembly announced on Wednesday.

"The Assembly has received communications... signed, first, by citizen Tarek William Saab" who "is resigning from his position as Attorney General of the Republic," according to the announcement made during the assembly's session.

Saab, who had been in the job since 2017, was criticized by the opposition for turning a blind eye to alleged human rights abuses by law enforcement under Maduro.

He criticized Maduro's capture in a US special forces raid on January 3 as a violation of international law and had called for him to be freed.

Shortly after his resignation, the National Assembly named Saab interim public defender after that post was vacated by Alfredo Ruiz Angulo.

Maduro was succeeded by his former deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, who has shown willingness to work with Washington, throwing open the doors to Venezuela's vast oil reserves to private investment and easing some repressive measures.

She has pushed through an amnesty for citizens who were charged or locked up for resisting 27 years of hardline socialist rule under Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez.