World News Engine: Libyan rebels take to the world stage

Libyan rebels take to the world stage

Libyan rebels make their first appearance on a world stage Wednesday, seeking international recognition and support for their stance that that Muammar al-Gaddafi's departure is the only way out of Libya's crisis.

On the eve of the first meeting of an international contact group, a spokesman for the rebel Transitional National Council said it will accept nothing short of the removal of Gaddafi and his sons from the country.

Mahmud Shammam, whose council is seeking international approval, stressed: "We want to move from the de facto recognition of the council to an internationally-recognised legitimacy
."

Such recognition would pave the way for the TNC to receive billions of dollars of desperately needed Libyan funds frozen in the United States and Britain, and the right to obtain credit at sovereign rates.

Libya's former foreign minister Mussa Kussa will be present in Doha, but rebels made it clear he would not be representing them in any way at talks ahead of the meeting.

An African Union peace plan for Libya was left in tatters on Tuesday after rebels stuck to their demand that Muammar Gaddafi step down and NATO came under pressure to drop more bombs on the strongman's forces.

The Libyan opposition's Transitional National Council will address the contact group as an alternative voice for Libya's people.

In London on March 29, the TNC was not permitted to attend the plenary session of an international ministerial conference on the crisis, although its envoys held bilateral talks with several world powers on the sidelines.

Since London, with Gaddafi continuing to defy NATO air strikes and with mounting calls for him to quit, the opposition council has gained support and recognition, notably from France, Italy and Qatar.

The rebels were keen to distance themselves from Kussa, the former foreign minister.

"He's not connected to (the) Transitional National Council in any way or shape," media liaison official Mustafa Gheriani told AFP.

The African Union peace plan looked to be dead in the water after rebels dismissed a ceasefire out of hand.

Having managed to secure Gaddafi's agreement to a truce, the AU delegation encountered resistance from the rebel leadership in Benghazi, who argued that the initiative was obsolete and insisted Gaddafi be forced to quit.

In Benghazi, rebel leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil said the African initiative did not go far enough.

"From the first day the demand of our people has been the ouster of Gaddafi and the fall of his regime," he said.

"Gaddafi and his sons must leave immediately if they want to be safe... Any initiative that does not include the people's demand, the popular demand, essential demand, we cannot possibly recognise."

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