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British, French Leaders Arrive In Libya, Pledge Support For Interim Rulers

Last updated (GMT/UTC): 15.09.2011 13:02

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron have used a visit to Libya to pledge support for the country's new interim rulers and to call for its ousted leader, Muammar Qaddafi, to be brought to justice.

Sarkozy and Cameron -- the first Western leaders to visit Libya since Qaddafi's ouster from power -- made the comments at a press conference with the leaders of the National Transitional Council (NTC) in Tripoli.

Cameron said Britain would help hunt down Qaddafi, whose whereabouts is still unknown more than three weeks after the longtime ruler's opponents seized control of the capital.

Cameron sent a strong message to Qaddafi and his followers to "give up" the fight, warning that NATO's mission would continue "as long as it is necessary" to protect Libyans.

"This is not done. This is not over. There are still parts of Libya that are under Qaddafi's control," Cameron said. "Qaddafi is still at large and we must make sure this work in completed."

Speaking alongside Cameron and Sarkozy, NTC Chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil thanked the two leaders for taking "brave positions" during the Libyan uprising.

Both were vocal backers of the NATO bombing campaign that helped oust Qaddafi after 42 years in power.

Jalil said the NTC's foreign allies during the war would have priority for future deals with the country, and warned that some existing contracts would be subject to review for corruption.

In London, Cameron's spokesman said Britain would release $950 million worth of frozen Libyan assets to help the new Libyan leadership.

Sarkozy, meanwhile, urged Libyans to preserve unity and seek reconciliation.

"France is very much attached to Libya's unity, to reconciliation of the Libyans, and France is telling its Libyan friends: 'Look together at the future, no revenge, no retaliation,'" Sarkozy said.

Reports say the two are also due to tour Tripoli and Benghazi, where Libya's interim administration is still based more than three weeks after Qaddafi opponents seized the capital.

Diplomats Arriving Tripoli

Western countries and neighbors are eager to welcome Libya into the diplomatic fold. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected in Libya on September 16. Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr is also due to visit.

And U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman visited Tripoli on September 14, where he pledged Washington's support for Libya's interim leaders.

"We remain encouraged by growing command and control over security police forces," he said. "We understand this is a difficult task. Libya's interim leadership is solidifying these steps, and integrating the revolutionary brigades under one civilian authority."

Meanwhile, the NTC's leader has appealed for weapons to help the interim authorities take areas still loyal to Qaddafi.

Jalil told the BBC that the ousted leader had possession of "all the gold" and would be planning attacks on cities, oil fields, and power plants.

Jalil, who has already moved to Tripoli from Benghazi, confirmed that the NTC would not move the whole of its administration to the capital until the last pockets of pro-Qaddafi resistance had been captured.

Chasing Qaddafi

Meanwhile, a written message attributed to Qaddafi and read out by a presenter on a Syrian TV channel appealed to the United Nations to stop "atrocities" against his birthplace on the Mediterranean coast, Sirte, still held by forces loyal to him.

Qaddafi loyalists also control parts of Bani Walid, southeast of the capital, and the oasis of Jufra. Jalil said many pro-Qaddafi forces had fled to Sabha in the southern desert.

Dozens of members of Qaddafi's inner circle have reportedly fled to neighboring Algeria and Niger since Tripoli fell to NTC forces. Qaddafi's whereabouts, however, remains unknown.

Feltman said the United States was working with Libya on the control of conventional weapons such as shoulder-fired missiles. He said the Americans were also addressing the risk from nonconventional weapons.

He also said Washington had been reassured after the NTC promised to fully investigate allegations of abuses by anti-Qaddafi fighters.

The European Union has demanded both sides stop arbitrary killings and detentions.

Meanwhile, Iran's official IRNA news agency has quoted a Foreign Ministry statement as saying the Iranian ambassador to Tripoli had returned to the war-torn country.

And the Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow is in favor of lifting the NATO-imposed no-fly zone over Libya in a new resolution on the conflict being drafted by Britain, "considering the changed situation in Libya."

Both Tehran and Moscow have criticized the Qaddafi regime for its violent assaults on the rebels while at the same time condemning NATO's military intervention.

compiled from agency reports

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/british_french_leaders_due_in_libya/24328924.html

Copyright (c) 2011. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.