Sarkozy (L) with rebel council reps
Photo: AP
France backs Libyan rebel council; EU extends sanctions
Sarkozy aide says there will be 'exchange of ambassadors between Paris, Benghazi' while British Foreign Office calls Libyan rebel leaders 'valid interlocutors'. Meanwhile EU extends financial sanctions and Syria says foreign interference 'violation of Libya's sovereignty'
France recognized the Libyan National Council, a rebel body fighting to oust Muammar Gaddafi, as the legitimate representative of Libya's people on Thursday, the first country to make the move.
People near the National Council's headquarters in Benghazi cheered, honked horns and some fired guns in air to celebrate the news. The Libyan government called it a "damaging intervention in Libya's internal affairs".
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"France recognizes the National Council as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people. There will be an exchange of ambassadors between Paris and Benghazi," said an official at the Elysee Palace offices of President Nicolas Sarkozy after he met two representatives of the Libyan National Council (LNC).
Speaking after meeting Sarkozy, Mahmoud Jebril, a member of the LNC, said France would unveil a "global strategic plan" to the European Union on Friday to try to resolve the crisis.
"The plan would be at a (European) level to save the Libyan people from the suffering and massacre being perpetrated against it and to safeguard the future and the country."
Rebel representatives in Benghazi said France was the first country in the world to give them formal diplomatic recognition.
A French diplomatic source said Paris' decision was "a political signal of encouragement" and that it hoped the European Union would follow suit."
Rebel in Ras Lanuf (Photo: Reuters)
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle sounded a cautious note.
"This will have to wait for consultations held by the EU and the Special Representative of the United Nations. Before we undertake such political steps, we must of course know who we're dealing with."
'Gaddafi could sever ties with Paris'
A Spanish government spokesman told Reuters Spain would join the rest of Europe in a common decision out of meetings today and tomorrow, while Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said the talks with the LNC "were very welcome.
A spokesman at Britain's Foreign Office said members of the Libyan rebel council were "valid interlocutors".
One EU diplomat said the 27-member EU was exploring the possibility of opening a representative office in east Libya but was only in the early stages of developing the idea.
France, slow like most other countries to respond when the upheaval in North Africa started in Tunisia, a former colony, is seeking to play a more decisive role in events in Libya.
"We are totally in sync (with Germany) to say that Colonel Gaddafi is discredited, he must go and we must enter in dialogue with new Libyan officials" French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said.
An unidentified Libyan foreign ministry official told the official news agency Jana, France's decision could mean Gaddafi's government severs ties with Paris.
Global assets frozen
Germany froze billions of euros in assets of the Libyan Central Bank and other state-run agencies Thursday, the latest move internationally to attempt to cut off funding to Gaddafi's embattled regime.
The German asset freeze came into effect just as the European Union announced that it was extending its own financial sanctions, adding five financial institutions whose assets and resources will be frozen to a list of more than two dozen individuals close to the Libyan leader.
Already, the UN Security Council has approved sanctions targeting Gaddafi, his family and associates, to restrict Libyan entities that hold stakes in a host of European companies, including British publisher Pearson and Italy's Unicredit bank.
Rebels in Beghazi (Photo: Tsur Shezaf)
As of last Friday, officials said approximately $3.3 billion of Libyan assets had been frozen in Britain, including $160 million worth of Libyan banknotes impounded by UK border officials on a ship.
The US has also frozen some $32 billion in Libyan funds, according to the Treasury Department.
Germany on March 1 provisionally blocked a bank account worth (EURO)2 million ($2.8 million) held by one of Gaddafi's sons - the same day that Austria ordered the freezing of banks accounts belonging to Gaddafi, his family members and his allies.
Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle said the wider sanctions announced Thursday would raise the total amount of assets blocked to a figure "in the billions" but he did not elaborate.
Also affected are accounts belonging to the Libya Africa Investment Portfolio, the Libyan Foreign Bank and the Libyan Investment Authority.
"The ... measures are a clear reaction to the developments in Libya - the brutal suppression of the Libyan freedom movement can now no longer be financed from funds that are in German banks," Bruederle said in a statement.
"The German government is giving a clear signal that it is firmly on the side of those who are pushing for freedom, democracy and justice in Libya."
Despite all the moves, however, it was not immediately clear whether there would be an effect on Gaddafi's ability to wage war.
The New York Times reported Thursday, citing unidentified American and other intelligence officials, that the Libyan leader had "tens of billions" in cash secreted away in Tripoli, allowing him to continue his fight against rebel forces.
Forces employ tanks, warplanes
Also Thursday, Syria said it is against any foreign intervention in Libya.
The statement said foreign interference "is considered a violation of Libya's sovereignty, independence and territorial unity."
Meanwhile, Libyan tanks fired on rebel positions around the oil port of Ras Lanuf and warplanes hit another oil hub further east on Thursday as Gaddafi carried counter-attacks deeper into the insurgent heartland.
In the west, Gaddafi's army sought to starve out insurgents clinging to parts of Zawiyah after see-saw battles this week but the rebels took an important step toward international legitimacy when France recognized their national council.
NATO and the European Union were considering imposing a "no-fly" zone over the large North African desert state to stop Gaddafi using jets and helicopters against the rebels, who have seized cities east and west of the capital Tripoli.
More than 500 km (300 miles) to the east, Gaddafi's forces bombarded Ras Lanuf anew with projectiles crashing close to a building of the Libyan Emirates Oil Refinery Company.
There was a series of air strikes, and insurgents fired rockets out to sea to counter Libyan gunboats targeting their positions in the oil-producing east.
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The rebels also reported an air strike on Brega, another oil port 90 km (50 miles) east of Ras Lanuf, indicating that Gaddafi loyalists had not only halted a westwards insurgent push in its tracks but were making inroads into the rebels' eastern centers.
Brega had not been targeted for several days.
During fighting in the east on Wednesday, an engineer told Al Jazeera television he had seen air strikes on eastern oil facilities, apparently the first time such a complex was hit.
OPEC member Libya was turning away tankers from ports as storage depots dried up because of supply disruptions caused by the fighting, which has paralyzed exports by Africa's third largest producer and a major supplier to Europe.
The Gaddafi counter-offensive has stalled a rebel advance from their eastern power base of Benghazi. They were forced to withdraw from the front-line town of Bin Jawad, just west of Ras Lanuf, after coming under heavy shelling earlier this week.
One fighter said rebels had retaken the heart of Zawiyah, the closest city -- 50 km (30 miles) west -- to Gaddafi's main stronghold Tripoli, from the army overnight. The centre appeared to change hands twice during the day in a hard-fought battle.
"We fought until after three in the morning. It's all quiet here this morning," said the insurgent, named Ibrahim, by phone.
Reuters, AP contributed to the report
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