Dubai: Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi has come under increased pressure as western countries backed the revolutionaries and considered military options and economic sanctions against his regime.
Struggling to cope with the relentless barrage of artillery fire and air raids, the revolutionaries yesterday scored a major diplomatic victory with France recognising the National Transitional Council as Libya’s rightful representatives.
But at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, no other EU member state was willing to follow France’s lead. If the Arab League decides the transitional council is legitimate, the European Union may also recognise it, the EU’s foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also announced plans to meet with Libyan opposition figures, saying Washington has been in touch with the rebels.
A source from the Transitional Council told Gulf News that France will launch full diplomatic ties with the council and send its envoy to Benghazi soon besides promising political and humanitarian support. In a telephone interview, Naim Ali, a revolutionary, welcomed the move and called for Arab states to follow suit.
The Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Riyadh Thursday stressed that the regime is illegitimate and that contacts should be initiated with the rebels.
Call to end bloodshed
“The (GCC) foreign ministers council stresses that the existing Libyan regime is illegitimate and calls for the need to initiate contacts with the interim national council,” a statement said following a GCC foreign ministers’ meeting.
The alliance urged Arab League foreign ministers, who meet in Cairo Friday, “to shoulder their responsibilities in taking measures to stop the bloodshed.”
Libya’s state news agency Jana said in a statement that Libya may sever ties with France. “Libya will think about severing its relations with France because of information being circulated about France’s damaging intervention in Libya’s internal affairs,” Jana quoted an unnamed foreign ministry official as saying.
Meanwhile, Gaddafi’s forces continued to pummel Ras Lanuf using tanks and rockets. They have installed missile launchers on the decks of oil tankers and are using them as battleships, according to the rebels.
A Benghazi-based captain told Gulf News over the phone that two oil tankers in front of Brega and Ras Lanuf were used to hit targets in residential areas and strategic locations.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to propose air strikes on Gaddafi’s command headquarters in discussions with EU leaders, a source told AFP.
Germany is freezing billions in assets of the Libyan Central Bank as part of the EU’s new sanctions.
