Brussels, 01/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - On 1st September late afternoon, while Paris was hosting the conference of the “friends of Libya” at which the future of post-Gaddafi Libya was being played out, preparations were underway to open an EU delegation in Tripoli. A team of senior EU officials, headed by Agostino Miozzo, Managing Director for Crisis Response in the European External Action Service (EEAS), which arrived in Tripoli on 31 August, was at work assessing the situation on the ground and in order to develop contacts with members of the National Transitional Council (NTC) already present in Tripoli. Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, made this announcement on Tuesday evening the day before the Paris conference, which she attended with the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and the president in office of the EU Council, Donald Tusk (see EUROPE 10441).
Commenting on the preparatory mission for opening an EU delegation office, Ashton said: “We are there to support the people of Libya during the period of transition. The European Union is ready to provide assistance under the leadership of the United Nations and the NTC”. For the time being, the EU office opened in Benghazi pending rebel control of Tripoli remains open, and will stay open until the EU delegation in Tripoli is operational. The humanitarian aid office opened last weekend by the European Commission in Tripoli (ECHO office) will allow emergency aid coordination to be ensured with international humanitarian players in order to ensure that aid reaches the most vulnerable population.
Out of the €80 million in humanitarian aid committed by the Commission to help overcome the Libyan crisis, €10 million had been allocated to delivering Tripoli and the coastal towns once accessible, with aid already earmarked for specific purposes. (See EUROPE 10437). The Commission's priorities are to: - urgently treat and rehabilitate those injured during the conflict; - protect the civilian population (and especially nationals of sub-Saharan Africa who are exposed to threats) and former fighters, given the exactions committed by the Gaddafi forces and by the rebels, - and fund logistic capabilities and coordination mechanisms required for carrying aid to those who need it wherever they may be. In total, the EU has to date mobilised over €152 million for humanitarian support during the Libyan crisis. (A.N./transl.jl)