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| Africa North |
| New Leaders Win United Nations Seat for Libya |
| 2011-09-18 |
| [Tripoli Post] The United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... gave strong backing to Libya's former rebels Friday, handing their National Transitional Council the country's UN seat and lifting and modifying some sanctions imposed on the former Muammar Al Qadaffy ...Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years... regime. It was thus aproving a Libyan request to accredit envoys of the country's interim government as Tripoli's sole representatives at the world body. The 193-nation general assembly approved the request with 114 votes in favour, 17 against and 15 abstentions. UN officials have said that Libyan UN ambassador Abdurrahman Shalgham is expected to retain the post as Tripoli's top diplomat at the United Nations. The General Assembly's vote to accept the credentials of the National Transitional Council, gives its representative the right to speak at the United Nations. Libya's former deputy ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi, who earlier in the conflict defected the Al Qadaffy regime to back the rebels, addressed the Security Council hours later. "Today is undoubtedly a decisive, historic day in the life of the Libyan people," Dabbashi said. "It is an indication that dictatorship has fallen, a period of terror, of denial of freedom, and of violation of human rights ...not to be confused with individual rights,mind you... has now come to an end for the Libyan people." "The fact that the National Transitional Council today takes Libya's seat at these United Nations indicates that a new page has been opened in history of the Libyan people - a page that has been marked by the blood of Libya's sons," he said. Dabbashi spoke after the Security Council unanimously approved a resolution establishing a new UN mission in Libya in response to a request from the NTC for help in establishing the new government. The resolution also unfreezes assets of two Libyan oil companies, lifts a ban on flights by Libyan aircraft and modifies an arms embargo to allow Libyan authorities now controlling the country to buy arms "intended solely for security or disarmament assistance." Under the resolution, the no-fly zone imposed in March after Al Qadaffy launched his crackdown on regime opponents will remain in place but be kept under review. The resolution lifts the asset freeze on the Libyan National Oil Corporation and Zueitina Oil Company and modifies the asset freeze on the Central Bank of Libya, the Libyan Foreign Bank, the Libyan Investment Authority and the Libyan Africa Investment Portfolio. But the Security Council retained the asset freeze and travel ban against AL Qadaffy and key family members and regime supporters. The resolution establishes a United Nations Support Mission in Libya for an initial period of three months with a mandate to assist the new government in restoring security and the rule of law, promoting national reconciliation and embarking on the process of writing a constitution and preparing for elections. The NTC did not request any UN peacekeeping troops. Highlighting how things have changed since the 1980s, when US president Ronald Reagan dubbed Col Al Qadaffy the "mad dog of the Middle East," US ambassador Susan Rice congratulated Libya and vowed that Tripoli would have "a friend and partner in the United States." "The Libyan people still have much more work to do, but they also have the full knowledge that the international community, including the United States, stands ready to help their transition towards democracy, prosperity, and the rule of law," she said in a statement. Several Latin American countries, however, sharply criticised the decision to recognise delegates of the transitional Libyan government, with Venezuela's UN ambassador Jorge Valero saying that his country rejected the "illegitimate transitory authority imposed by foreign intervention" and any attempt to transform Libya into a "protectorate" of NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... or the security council. Mr Valero also blamed NATO and the security council for failing to push for a cease-fire rather than a victory of the rebels over Col Al Qadaffy, some of whose forces continue to oppose the fighters of the new government in isolated areas around the oil-producing Opec member. Delegates from Cuba, Bolivia and Nicaragua echoed Mr Valero's remarks. Angola, speaking on behalf of southern African countries, had called for a delay of the vote to accredit Libya, but that motion was heavily defeated. |
| Posted by:Fred |