Brussels, 18/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - European Union nations plan to use the frozen assets of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and his associates to finance efforts by Libyan rebels to set up their own administration. EU foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels on Monday 18 July, said individual states would, in compliance with UN Security Council resolutions, use the money to help meet the “urgent financial needs of the NTC (National Transitional Council) to allow it to serve the Libyan people”. EU member states have differing legal requirements for use of the funds. Some have frozen the assets in compliance with UN resolutions, and would need a decision from the Security Council to be able to release them. “It is up to member states to look at how best they can support the people of Libya”, said EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, making clear that the EU as a whole could not take a position.
In a statement from their talks, the ministers said the EU “considers the NTC as a legitimate political interlocutor”, after EU and NATO leaders last week endorsed the rebel vision of Libya's future, once Gaddafi has left power. They pledged to provide the rebels with more assistance, but called on them to address alleged violations of international law, including human rights abuses. The statement comes as pressure mounts on NATO to stay the course in Libya. The allies are divided over the mission, which is eating into military resources, while Gaddafi remains entrenched and the rebels disorganised as a political force. NATO, led by Britain and France, is policing a no-fly-zone and an arms embargo in Libya, while trying to stop Gaddafi's forces from targeting civilians.
The ministers also noted what they said were “continuing defections from the Gaddafi regime”, and noted that the Libyan leader has “lost all legitimacy and must relinquish power immediately”. They said that the EU stands ready to launch a security mission in Libya to help provide humanitarian assistance, if requested by the United Nations. Gaddafi, his son and Libya's intelligence chief are wanted in connection with alleged crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and the ministers took note of the arrest warrant, and condemned any grave violations of human rights and breaches of international law by the regime. (LoC)