Africa
Libyan rebels seek US endorsement
Libyan rebels' foreign minister to hold talks with US national security
adviser, seeking formal recognition.
Last Modified: 13 May 2011 12:16
The US appears keen on a support role and says it is not ready to grant full
status to the NTC [Getty/AFP]
Mahmoud Jibril, a Libyan rebel leader, is holding meetings with the US national
security advisor in Washington DC, a day after the British government invited
the Libyan rebel council to open its first foreign office in London.
Jibril, who serves as the foreign minister of the rebels' National Transitional
Council (NTC), was to hold White House talks with Tom Donilon, the US national
security adviser to US President Barack Obama, on Friday.
The meeting at the White House comes ahead of a Russian call for negotiations
between Libyan rebels and Muammar Gaddafi's government as soon as possible.
The statement, released on Friday, emphasised Moscow's opposition to any
foreign interference in Libya, Syria or other states in the region.
In wide-ranging remarks in Kazakhstan, Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign
minister, also said Iran must engage in "serious conversation" with global
powers to dispel concerns it could be seeking nuclear weapons, Russian news
agencies reported.
He suggested a resolution of the conflict would usher in a new government but
that talks with Gaddafi's government were unavoidable.
The result of dialogue "will be a new political system, but it is necessary to
seek agreement also with those upon whom the prospects for calming the
situation depends", Lavrov said.
Russia says a Western-led coalition conducting air strikes in Libya is
overstepping its UN Security Council mandate to protect civilians, and has
vocally opposed foreign intervention in other conflicts in the Middle East and
North Africa.
US hesitant
US officials would not say whether President Barack Obama would drop by
Jibril's meeting with Donilon, a practice sometimes used by the White House for
guests for whom protocol does not dictate an official meeting.
Asked what he expected from Friday's talks with the US administration, Jibril
replied: "We need the recognition."
The Libyan opposition, based in the eastern city of Benghazi, wants the United
States to recognise the body as "the sole legitimate interlocutor of the Libyan
people", he said. Unlike France, Italy, Gambia and Qatar, the United States has
not yet formally recognised the NTC.
Jibril told reporters he believed Jordan would join the ranks of those who
recognise the opposition in the coming days.
"All we need is for the world to understand our cause and help us get our
legitimate rights realised," he said.
Jay Carney, the White House spokesman, however, has signalled that Washington,
which helped launch the NATO military operation and has since taken a support
role, is not ready to grant full status to the NTC.
Jibril warned earlier that the council was facing a "very acute financial
problem" and needed help from the US administration. Last week, Hillary
Clinton, the US Secretary of State, said the Gaddafi regime's frozen assets in
the United States would be used to help "the Libyan people".
Frozen assets
Around $30 billion dollars in Libyan assets have been frozen in the United
States as a result of economic sanctions.
Jibril's visit comes as the Obama administration gradually steps up contacts
with Gaddafi's opposition to better understand the movement before deciding on
the extent of US assistance.
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, has said the air war in Libya cost the
United States roughly $750 million to date, more than the Pentagon's initial
estimate of $604 million.
On Thursday, another senior rebel leader, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, met British
Prime Minister David Cameron, who invited the NTC to open an office in London,
its first foreign mission.
In Libya, Salah Badi, who commanded the rebel assault on Misurata's airport,
said rebel positions were now only 10km from Zliten, the next main centre on
the 215km coastal road from Misurata to Tripoli.
Canadian and British warships patrolling waters off Libya beat back an attack
by an unspecified number of fast-moving small boats on the Misurata port hours
after the city's airport fell to rebels, NATO said in a statement.
The Canadian frigate HMCS Charlottetown and British destroyer HMS Liverpool
joined a French gunboat not under NATO command to turn back the pro-Gaddafi
forces early Thursday, the alliance said.
Foreigners killed
The attack came as rebels celebrated the breaking of the two-month siege of the
city. Separately, a French private security contractor was shot dead and four
others arrested in a murky incident at a checkpoint in Benghazi, officials said.
"During a police check in Benghazi last night, five French nationals were
detained," French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said."One of them
was wounded by a bullet and died overnight in a hospital in Benghazi" while the
other four remain in detention, he said, confirming a report by a doctor at the
hospital.
The French statement did not say who fired the bullet that killed the
contractor in Benghazi, which is far from the front line in the Libyan conflict
and which at the moment is a relatively safe city.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
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