France recognizes Libya's rebel Council as sole representative

2011-03-10 18:18:44 GMT+7 (ICT)

PARIS (BNO NEWS) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday decided to recognize the Libyan opposition Interim Transitional National Council as the country's sole representative, his office said.

Sarkozy met with two representatives of the Council at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Thursday morning to discuss the general situation in Libya, with in particular the humanitarian situation. After the meeting, the representatives said that Sarkozy had decided to recognize the Council.

A spokesman for Sarkozy's office confirmed France would recognize the council, but gave no other details. Media reports said France would plan to open an embassy in Benghazi while the Libyan embassy in Paris would reopen.

Libya has been plunged into chaos as massive anti-government protests continue nationwide, resulting in a violent crackdown by security forces which included aerial bombardments on protesters. At least 1,000 and as many as 10,000 people are believed to have been killed in the uprising, but confirmed information has been difficult to obtain due to reporting restrictions by Libyan authorities.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-03-10

Very stupid decision. Nothing was settled. If Gaddaffi perseveres, France has just lost its oil vendor. It sends a message that civil wars are acceptable. Yes, Gaddafi is evil, yes there should be a regime change, but the French should have waited. Now Gaddaffi can say the west is declaring war on Libya. The results will not be pleasant. If other western nations have any street smarts, they will hold off on official announcements.

This is a good way to terrify the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Qatar, Oman etc.. Don't look for OPEC to smile kindly upon the French.

Edited March 10, 201115 yr by geriatrickid

I agree completely. Gaddaffi sucks, but no one knows who will replace him.

Very stupid decision. Nothing was settled. If Gaddaffi perseveres, France has just lost its oil vendor. It sends a message that civil wars are acceptable. Yes, Gaddafi is evil, yes there should be a regime change, but the French should have waited. Now Gaddaffi can say the west is declaring war on Libya. The results will not be pleasant. If other western nations have any street smarts, they will hold off on official announcements.

This is a good way to terrify the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Qatar, Oman etc.. Don't look for OPEC to smile kindly upon the French.

I disagree in part. There is no love lost whatsoever between Gaddaffi and many Arab states, Saudi Arabia especially have a large bone to pick after an assasination attempt on their king which Libya were implicated in. I'm not convinced that this action is as unilateral as it first appears, perhaps it was decided that a U.S or U.K declaration would be less palatable than a French one to Arab oppinion, I await further announcements.

France buys 10% of Libya's oil but all the transactions have stopped because the US froze the dollars that are used to buy and sell oil going in and out of Libya. Sarkozy does not strike me as a dummy so I wonder what he can be thinking. Perhaps his intelligence is better than the Brits and he knows something they don't.

France is going to send diplomats to Benghazi.

What a job!