Britain has officially recognised Libya's main opposition group as the country's legitimate government, the UK foreign secretary said Wednesday, announcing the expulsion of all diplomats loyal to Muammar Qadhafi's regime. William Hague also said his country was unfreezing 91 million pounds ($150 million) of Libyan oil assets to help the National Transitional Council, which the UK now recognises as "the sole governmental authority in Libya."
The council had been invited to send an ambassador to London, Hague told reporters, adding that "we will deal with the National Transitional Council on the same basis as other governments around the world." The Libyan charge d'affaires was summoned Wednesday morning and informed that he must leave the country within three days, the Foreign Office said. A government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with official policy, said the seven remaining diplomats were being given more time in case they wanted to defect.
Britain's diplomatic moves implement a decision made at a July 15 meeting in Istanbul during which the US, Britain and 30 other nations recognised Libya's main opposition group as the country's legitimate government. A popular uprising seeking to oust Qadhafi broke out in February, but the front lines in the civil war have remained largely stagnant since then. Rebels, backed by Nato air bombings, control much of the country's east and pockets in the west. But Qadhafi controls the rest from his stronghold in Tripoli, the capital.
Britain is one of the leading participants in the Nato-led campaign, but the government has been under pressure over its failure to remove Gadhafi from power. Libya's rebels saluted Britain's decision. Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, the head of the rebels' council, said Britain's recognition "gives us a political and economic boost."
"We will try through this recognition to get our frozen assets," Abdul-Jalil told a news conference in the rebel capital of Benghazi in eastern Libya. "This means Qadhafi and his followers are no longer legitimate." He added that the new Libyan ambassador to Britain would be Mahmud Nacua, who he described as a Libyan exile in Britain. This week, Hague said for the first time that Gadhafi might be able to remain in Libya as long as he is not in power. He said that "Gadhafi is going to have to abandon power, all military and civil responsibility," but "what happens to Gadhafi is ultimately a question for the Libyans." France and the US have made similar suggestions.
Hague denied that rhetorical shift was aimed at setting up secret talks between the West and the Libyan leader, saying it was instead an effort to give the rebels the flexibility they might need to negotiate their own resolution to the conflict. Rebels have recently floated the suggestion that Qadhafi could retire in Libya, provided he resigns although Abdul-Jalil insisted Wednesday that the proposal was no longer on the table.
Hague said that the ideal end to the Libya operation would involve Qadhafi either exiled or brought before the International Criminal Court. But he acknowledged that removing Qadhafi from the country was not something "we can impose or guarantee." A handful of demonstrators gathered outside the embassy in London following Hague's announcement with rebel banners, heckling the diplomats inside and threatening to climb onto the balcony and tear down Qadhafi's green flag. They were told to leave by police, who stood guard outside the four-story building across from Hyde Park. There were occasional signs of activity inside the building, although no one emerged to address journalists.
One of the demonstrators, who wore a rebel flag pin over his heart, said that while any defections would be welcome, any defectors wouldn't be treated as heroes. "It's too late for them," said 48-year-old Abdelatif Kleisa, a Libyan emigre now living in Sheffield. Asked if any of the diplomats could win a place in the rebel movement, the businessman let out an expletive. "No way," he said. "They have to get normal jobs like anyone else. We struggled for 42 years. Now it's their turn to struggle."
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