New close partnership between Libya and the U.S.? U.S. Defense Security makes historic visit to Libya

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta greets members of the Libyan delegation on the tarmac during his arrival in Tripoli, Libya, on Saturday.

After the death of Qaddafi, a new chapter is opening up in U.S.-Libya relationsas U.S. defense security Leon Panetta made a historic visit to post Qaddafi Libya.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said on Saturday that Tripoli could become an important security partner of Washington as he visited Libya for talks with new regime officials.“We are and will be your friend and partner,” Panetta said at a news conference with Libyan Prime Minister Abdel Rahim al-Kib.“This new and free Libya can become an important security partner of the United States,” he said, adding that Washington was looking forward to building a close partnership.“We stand ready to offer whatever assistance in the spirit of friendship and a spirit of mutual respect.” But Panetta, who also met Defence Minister Osama Jouili, stressed that his talks in Tripoli did not involve military equipment. “At this stage there was certainly no discussions involving arms or military equipment,” he said when asked about the type of security cooperation he envisioned. Earlier he had told the travelling press, including an AFP correspondent, that his brief visit to Tripoli was to confer with the country’s new rulers on the security needs of their government. “The purpose of my trip to Libya is to have an opportunity to look at that situation up close but to also pay tribute to the Libyan people to what they did in bringing (former leader Moamer) Kadhafi down and trying to establish a government for the future,” Panetta said. He acknowledged that Libya’s rulers would face huge challenges but said he was confident they would “succeed in putting a democracy together in Libya.” “I’m confident that they’re taking the right steps to reach out to all these groups and bring them together so that they will be part of one Libya and that they will be part of one defence system,” he said. Panetta said he expected the Libyans “to determine the future of Libya” and “determine what assistance they require from the United States and the international community.”Libya’s rulers are facing a big challenge as they try to disarm militiamen who fought to topple Kadhafi and secure thousands of surface-to-air missiles stockpiled under the former regime.

Though one can’t predict the future since it is unknown, what is known now is that Libya and the U.S. won’t have hostile relations between each other post Qaddafi.  This change from hostility to possible cooperation is no doubt good for both nations. The end of the Qaddafi regime brought to an end a sad, tragic, cruel chapter in the lives of the Libyan people.  With a new beginning, the road ahead will be difficult especially in reforming the economy to join global trade, having a stable political environment, but in the long run, that is what’s needed to move ahead.

China recognizes Libyan National Transitional Council

China has recognized the Libyan National Transitional Council, following the such countries as Germany, Turkey, France, U.K, U.S., Russia and institutions like the United Nations.

China has officially recognised the National Transitional Council as Libya’s ruling authority, the foreign ministry in Beijing has announced. It is the last permanent member of the United Nations security council to do so. China’s relations with the NTC were strained last week when it emerged Chinese arms firms had talked to Muammar Gaddafi’s representatives about weapons sales. The statement, released late on Monday – a public holiday in China – added that Beijing respected the choice of the Libyan people. Spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said China hoped all signed treaties and deals would remain in force and be “implemented seriously”. It cited an unnamed NTC representative as saying: “Libya welcomes China to engage in the country’s reconstruction and jointly push forward the steady and sustained development of bilateral ties”. China had already held talks with the NTC and said it valued its “important role”, but had held off full recognition. “They have taken their time in recognising the rebels,” said Steve Tsang, professor of contemporary Chinese studies at Nottingham University. “I would have thought they really should have done this much earlier. I suspect the timing was simply determined by the practical issues of negotiations with the National Transitional Council and that now they have something they think will be satisfactory from their perspective.” But he added China’s behaviour would affect how it was seen by the rest of the world. “You will have quite a lot of people concluding China is much more interested in protecting its own national interests than performing its duties as a leading power in the international scene. As [one of the] P5 [permanent members of the UN national security council] there are certain expectations and moral responsibilities … The way the post-Gaddafi situation has been handled, [people] have not been giving China a particularly high mark,” he said. Chris Zambelis, a researcher at US consultancy Helios Global who focuses on the Middle East, added: “They saw the writing on the wall … Some countries are still holding out, but one by one they are lining up [behind the NTC].” He said while China’s energy interests in Libya were not as great as those elsewhere, it wanted to protect them. An official with a rebel oil firm suggested last month it might freeze out countries that had not supported it. There was embarrassment when it emerged that Chinese state-owned arms firms met Gaddafi’s representatives in July – despite a UN weapons embargo. Beijing’s foreign ministry said the government did not know of the meetings and that no contracts had been signed or weapons delivered. But Zambelis added: “Whatever rebel government emerges, China already has a place in the country business-wise. It wouldn’t make sense to start shutting it out … We will still see China in Libya.” China surprised some by supporting the UN arms embargo and abstaining on the vote on Nato airstrikes – though it later condemned the bombing. Its investments in Libya are thought to be worth about $20bn (£13bn).

China has been reluctant to recognize the NTC since it would go against its “non-interference” policy.  The changing regional dynamics and winds of change have made China grudgingly change its stance. Like Russia, China had business interests in Libya that it wanted to protect, hence its timidness in supporting the Libyan uprising against Qaddafi.

Countries that have regonised the Libyan National Transition Council (NTC)

Countries that have regonised the Libyan National Transition Council (NTC) are shown above.

Qatar to benefit from helping Libyan rebels

In aiding the Libyan rebels, Qatar being asked to help in rebuilding of Libya.

As Libya’s rebels mounted what they hoped was a final assault on Tripoli in their battle against Col. Moammar Gadhafi, they directed much gratitude in their six-months-long battle to one tiny, Gulf Arab state: Qatar.

A rebel fighter stood in front of a maroon-and-white Qatari flag in Gadhafi’s compound in Tripoli Wednesday. After leading the region in training, equipping, and funding Libya’s opposition, Qatar is now best-poised to help mediate a political transition and employ some of its companies and expertise in a post-Gadhafi Libya, officials and analysts say. One of the Libyan opposition leaders, Mahmoud Jibril, on Tuesday thanked Qatar for supporting the rebels despite enduring “all the doubts and threats.” Another top opposition figure, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, told Qatar’s state news agency the country “played a leading and decisive role since the outbreak of the revolution.” Mr. Jibril spoke from the Qatari capital, Doha, which has served as a defacto operational base for the Libyan opposition in the Gulf. Small but wealthy, gas-rich Qatar is now reaping a foreign-policy success from its early support for Libya’s rebels—roughly a month into their uprising—carving an outsized role for itself in the Arab Spring in contrast to conservative Gulf monarchies invested in stability. Though Col. Gadhafi had alienated some of the Gulf’s sheiks, Qatar tried in recent years to forge warm business relations in Libya. In Doha, Libyan opposition leaders meeting with Arab and allied officials on Wednesday will kick-start talks on releasing some of the tens of billions of dollars locked up in Libyan frozen assets, with the rebels seeking $5 billion for the short-to-medium term. The meeting will also involve the logistics of a political transition, rebel officials said. There will be a followup meeting in Istanbul and other meetings elsewhere. During the conflict, Qatar took a leading diplomatic role in trying to hasten the Gadhafi regime’s collapse, as it sought advice this month from Shokri Ghanem, Libya’s former oil chief, and Moussa Koussa, the former foreign minister, said people familiar with the matter. Qatar has also been spearheading talks on the option of a peacekeeping force for Libya’s transition process. The country has said it would be willing to contribute troops to the mission, a move likely to be welcomed by Western nations wary of contributing soldiers, a senior European diplomat said. “Out of all the Arab countries, the rebels trust the Qataris more than anyone else,” said Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center. “I assume you will have a divided political arena in Libya in the coming months, once the rebels realize they don’t have as much in common as they thought they had, and the Qataris could play a positive role in that.” Qatar has built a track-record as a neutral arbiter in some of the Middle East’s most heated conflicts, from political stalemates in Lebanon to rebel talks in Yemen. It has managed to play off sides in the struggle for regional dominance, staying a friend of Iran—with whom it shares the world’s biggest gas field—while hosting the U.S.’s major air base in the Gulf. “Having close military relations with both sides of the Arab cold war—that’s pretty remarkable,” Mr. Hamid said. “No one else plays that balancing act.” Much of that creative foreign policy has drawn the ire of Saudi Arabia, a larger and more powerful Gulf state, for whom Qatar’s rise to global prominence has been more of an annoyance than a threat. In March, Qatar fell in line with the Gulf Cooperation Council’s move to send Saudi troops into Bahrain to defend that monarchy against a rebellion. But Qatar also took the lead on Libya’s uprising, even after the council, the collective bloc of Gulf states, provided the Arab political cover for Western military intervention. It was the first Arab country to send its jets to Libya, to recognize the rebels’ National Transitional Council, or NTC, and to market crude oil produced in rebel-controlled fields. It provided the rebels with uniforms and helped them get a television station on air. At some risk, Al Jazeera, a pan-Arabic broadcaster backed by Qatar’s royal family, has also served as a voice for protesters across the Arab world, while becoming a focal point of discontent for governments facing protests. An Al Jazeera camera-man was killed in an ambush near Benghazi and several of the station’s journalists attacked in March. Qatar is likely to keep a role in oil trading in Libya, having already helped the rebels sell cargoes of crude and delivered petroleum products to them in Benghazi, energy analysts say. It may also use its expertise as the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas to help overhaul a small LNG plant in Brega. Libya’s rebel government, too, could be looking to leverage its ties with other Gulf countries that supported their plight, analysts say, especially as Libyan officials had often looked to the Gulf for examples of how to diversify oil-reliant economies and invest wealth. “It’s not a single country that’s helping—the NTC is working now with all of its international partners,” said Aref Ali Nayed, the Libyan ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, another Gulf country that took the lead in approving a no-fly zone over Libya and sending in humanitarian aid. “The Libyan people are very proud people, they will never forget their friends,” Mr. Nayed said.

Though Qatar is a small nation, over the past few years it has expanded its influence in the Middle East mainly due to its wealth. Qatar also wants to be an active player in the region. Being supportive and aiding the rebels helped increase its strategic objectives with minimal cost.

British and French special operatives fighting along Libyan rebels

French President Nicolas Sarkozy left and British Prime Minister David Cameron right

British and French special operatives have been fighting along side Libyan rebels.

French and British operatives have been working with Libyan rebels on their eastern front, where the insurgents scored strategic blows against Moamer Kadhafi’s forces, an AFP journalist discovered on Thursday. The operatives are installed at the rebel command for the eastern front, at the dysfunctional oil refinery in Zuwaytina, about 150 kilometres (93 miles) southwest of the opposition capital Benghazi. They are equipped with telecommunications equipment and housed in two shipping containers, within walking distance of the headquarters of Fawzi Bukatif, commander of the eastern front. He has been working out of a large office with walls covered in maps and satellite photos. There are at least two Frenchmen, and several Britons in mismatched camouflage outfits. In late April, Britain, France, Italy, Egypt and the United States announced that they had sent military advisers to the National Transitional Council, the rebels’ de facto government. Britain’s Defence Minister Liam Fox said Thursday that NATO is contributing intelligence and reconnaissance equipment to the search for Kadhafi but he refused to confirm reports that Britain’s SAS special forces were working with the Libyan rebels to track down Kadhafi. “I can confirm that NATO is providing intelligence and reconnaissance assets to the NTC (National Transitional Council) to help them track down Colonel Kadhafi and other remnants of the regime,” who fled before advancing rebel forces on Tuesday, he told Sky News. The Ministry of Defence said Fox was referring to “various assets such as military planes.” The Daily Telegraph newspaper, quoting defence sources, said SAS members were sent to Libya several weeks ago and played a key role in coordinating the battle for Tripoli. With the majority of the capital now in rebel hands, the SAS had been ordered to switch their focus to hunting down Kadhafi, the Telegraph said. They were wearing civilian clothes and armed with the same type of weapons used by the rebel forces, the paper said. “We never comment about special forces,” Fox said in a separate interview with BBC radio. Asked what role Britain was playing on the ground in Libya, Fox told the BBC: “We have always had some advisors to the NTC (as) we have made clear from the outset, helping them with communications, helping them with logistics, the chain of command and so on. “And we would of course want to continue with those relationships.”

As previously reported before here, U.S., British, Egyptian, French and Italian special operatives have been on the ground in Libya helping the rebels fight against Gadaffi. None of what is reported is new, just a confirmation of actions that were logical from the start of the NATO enforcing the no-fly-zone over Libya.

Iran secretly aided Libyan rebels

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi

Iran has been secretly helping the Libyan rebels in the fight against Gaddafi in and around Tripoli.

Iran “discreetly” provided humanitarian aid to Libyan rebels before the fall of Tripoli, Jam-e-Jam newspaper quoted Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Sunday as saying.

“We were in touch with many of the rebel groups in Libya before the fall of (Moamer) Kadhafi, and discreetly dispatched three or four food and medical consignments to Benghazi,” Salehi told the daily.

“The head of the National Transitional Council (NTC), Mustafa Abdel Jalil, sent a letter of thanks to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for having been on their side and helping,” he added.

Since the Libyan uprising erupted in mid-February, Iran has adopted a dual approach — criticising the Kadhafi regime for its violent assaults on the rebels while at the same time condemning NATO’s military intervention.

On Tuesday, Iran “congratulated the Muslim people of Libya” after rebels overran the capital Tripoli, but it has so far distanced itself from officially recognising the NTC.

This is not at all surprising to people who know the politics of the Middle East. Iran and Gadaffi have been at odds with each other for a long time. Gadaffi had blamed numerous uprisings in Libya on Iran. It would be just as unsurprising to learn that the Iranians had been discreetly helping Gaddafi, too. They’re probably playing both sides so they can gain a foothold no matter who wins.

Britain will recognize Libya’s Transitional National Council as the Libya’s legitimate government

Britain will formally recognize Libya’s Transitional National Council as the country’s legitimate government. The British Foreign Secretary announced that envoys from the rebels’ National Transitional Council will now replace current embassy staff in London. More than 30 countries have recognized the NTC including the US, Germany, France, and Turkey.

United States recognises Libyan rebel council as legitimate government of Libya

U.S Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reacts with Mahmud Jibril, Chairman of the Libyan Interim National Transitional Council, during the fourth Libya Contact Group Meeting in Istanbul, Friday, July 15, 2011.

The United States has formally recognized Libya’s Transitional National Council as the country’s legitimate government.  The US is the latest country to officially do this after such nations like Turkey, France and Germany. More than 30 countries from around the world have recognized the Transitional National Council as the only legitimate representative government for the people of Libya.

Diplomatic recognition means that the U.S. will soon be able to fund the opposition with some of the more than $30 billion in Gahdafi-regime assets that are frozen in American banks. Other countries holding billions more in such assets will be able to do the same.

Contact Group representatives broke into spontaneous applause when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced her nation’s recognition of the NTC, according to U.S. officials.

Rebel spokesman Mahmoud Shammam welcomed the NTC’s recognition and called on other nations to deliver on a promise to release hundreds of millions of dollars in funds to the opposition. “Funds, funds, funds,” Shammam said, in order to stress the opposition’s demand. It remained unclear Friday whether the unfrozen assets could be used to purchase arms, or if some restrictions would still apply. More than 30 countries have recognized the NTC much to Gahdafi’s opposition.

Clinton said the council won international recognition after giving assurances it would respect human rights and presenting a plan on how to pave the way to a truly democratic Libyan government.

She said the assurances included upholding the group’s international obligations, pursuing a democratic reform process that is both geographically and politically inclusive, and dispersing funds for the benefit of the Libyan people.

The recognition does not mean that the U.S. diplomatic mission in the rebel-held city of Benghazi, Libya, is now an embassy. Titles of staff and names of offices will be decided in the coming days, the officials said.

Turkey recognizes Libyan rebel opposition government

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu shakes hands with Libyan rebels

Turkey following in the foot steps of other countries like France, and Germany, has officially recognized the Libyan rebel opposition as the legitimate representative government of Libya.

Turkey’s foreign minister recognized Libya’s rebel leaders as the country’s legitimate representatives and promised them an additional $200-million in aid during a visit Sunday.

The visit by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu signalled a further policy shift for Ankara. Turkey, a key regional power, had initially balked at the idea of military action in Libya, but as a NATO member is now supporting the alliance’s air strikes there. Turkish companies were involved in construction projects worth billions of dollars in Libya before the February outbreak of a Libyan anti-government uprising that has evolved into a protracted armed conflict.

Mr. Davutoglu met with Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, chairman of the rebels’ National Transitional Council, in a heavily guarded government building in the city of Benghazi, the rebel’s main stronghold in eastern Libya. He later addressed a news conference with Ali al-Essawi, who serves as the rebels’ foreign minister.

The Turkish visitor said his country recognizes the rebel leaders as the legitimate representatives of the Libyan people. Several other countries, including France, Qatar and Italy, have previously recognized the rebels.

Mr. al-Essawi noted that “Turkey has given us political as well as financial support and humanitarian aid.”

Turkey has already granted the Libyan opposition $100-million in aid and promised an additional $200-million. Some of the money is to be used to improve the infrastructure of Benghazi and rehabilitate its airport.

Temel Kotil, chief executive officer of the Turkish Airlines, said his company would resume flights to Benghazi as soon as the security situation improves. Mahmoud Jibril, one of the rebel leaders, will pay a two-day visit to Turkey on Tuesday to discuss the promised aid in more detail.

“For us, the destiny of Libya is the same as the destiny of Turkey,” said Mr. Davutoglu. “I expressed our solidarity and commitment.”

Mr. Davutoglu’s trip to Benghazi on Sunday is the most powerful signal that Turkey, which has vast trade interests in Libya, is throwing its weight behind the Libyan opposition despite its long-time relations with Col. Gadhafi.

The foreign minister said he hopes the Libya crisis can be solved peacefully this month, before the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan at the beginning of August. The fighting has split Libya into a rebel-controlled east and a Gadhafi-run west.

Here is video of Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu trip to Libya.

This was the only rational move for Turkey to make if it wanted any chance of taking part in the reconstruction in Libya post Gadhafi. Turkey knows that any business contracts signed under Gadhafi  will be no longer good once the rebel opposition fully gains power.  It is only a matter of time when that happens. Turkey does not want to be in a position where it is trying to bid for government projects, contracts with people who were part of the rebel movement fighting against Gadhafi. Turkey might not be looked upon positively by the new Libyan government, especially since it would be made up of people who fought to bring down Gadhafi.  As stated above, Turkey has much to lose especially in the construction area.  This trip by Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister was meant to build some good will amongst the  National Transitional Council members and Libyans in opposition of the Gadhafi regime.

Germany officially recognizes Libyan opposition as rightful government of Libya

Germany has recognized the Libyan  rebel council as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people..  This comes after France a few weeks ago recognized the opposition as Libya’s rightful government.

After months of hesitations, Germany has yesterday recognised Libya’s rebels as “the legitimate representatives of the Libyan people”, becoming the 13^th country to do so after after Australia, Britain, France, Gambia, Italy, Jordan, Malta, Qatar, Senegal, Spain, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.

“We want a free Libya, in peace and democracy without [Muammar] Gaddafi,” Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in the rebel stronghold Benghazi.

The move came after Germany was widely criticised by France and the UK for refusing to back the UN Security Council resolution 1973, which authorised the Nato operation in Libya, on the grounds that it was too risky.

At the time, in March Mr Westerwelle said “When weighing the risks we have come to a result that will not participate in military operations in Libya, sending German soldiers to the war.”

While the country is not expected to become involved in the Libyan Nato-led operation directly, the decision to formally acknowledge the National Transitional movement.as its new legitimate Libyan interlocutor nonetheless marks a turnaround in the German stance in Libya.

Germany is not the only country to have adopted a new attitude regarding the Libyan conflict as last month Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also revealed that his country would soon be recognising the Council as a “legitimate negotiator for the country’s future”, while however also insisting that for now Russiawould not completely cut the diplomatic ties it had with Gaddafi.

The announcement came as Mr Westerwelle and his colleague, Economic Co-operation and Development Minister Dirk Niebel, went on a three-hour visit of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, the first by German officials to a rebel-controlled territory.

Westerwelle defended his country’s position after Germany abstained from a UN Security Council resolution backing intervention in Libya and chose not to participate in the Nato-led airstrikes launched in March.

“We were one of the first governments to say that Gaddafi must go,” he said, adding that Germany’s absence from the Nato-led campaign “does not mean that we are neutral.”

“Colonel Gaddafi’s economic isolation must be broadened,” he said.

“His assets should be unblocked so they can be used to build a new Libya, whose riches are for the Libyan people,” Westerwelle added.

Standing alongside rebel foreign minister Ali Issawi, Mr Westerwelle maintained: “We share the same goal: Libya without Gaddafi.

Guido Westerwelle (left) spoke alongside Libyan rebel foreign minister Ali Issawi

“The national council is the legitimate representative of the Libyan people.”

The announcement was warmly received by the audience and a senior rebel official, NTC Vice-Chairman Abdel Hafez Ghoga, commenting on the German decision described it as a “very big step”.

German opposition politicians, media commentators and foreign policy experts had previously sharply criticised the government for its position on Col Gaddafi, accusing it of failing to live up to its international obligations.

Berlin is now expected to set up a small mission in Libya where it will manly focus its efforts on sectors of waters and electricity, but will also work towards helping refugees and civilians affected and traumatised by the conflict.

Mr. Westerwelle’s announcement comes just days after Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany visited Washington in what was widely seen as a mission designed to ease the rift that started to affect both countries’ relationship. In the last few months Germany and the US have been at loggerheads on issues such as the Greek debt crisis, the euro and Libya.

In fact, Germany, which joined the United Nations Security Council in January, largely surprised its allies when it abstained from voting on a resolution that authorized a no-fly zone over Libya and airstrikes to protect the civilian population from Colonel Qaddafi’s forces, and on the other hand sided with Chinaand Russia.

The German government said then that it abstained because it opposed any military operation against Libya. It also criticized the vagueness of the mission and its goals, while also casting doubts on who the rebels really were and what they really wanted.

Despite Germany’s reservations, which were shared by several other countries, including Turkey and Poland, NATO went ahead with the operation and started its airstrikes campaign against the Qaddafi forces within weeks.

Until now however, Germany had remained insistent, that it would not participate in any military action, and in a defiant move decided to put ships that were previously serving under a NATO flag under its national command.

However, last week, Thomas de Maizière, the German defence minister, already provided clues that the country had decided to take a more flexible attitude to NATO and the Libyan operation when he admitted that Germany would consider providing troops to any European Union mission designed to provide protection for reconstruction and humanitarian efforts in Libya.

It also emerged later on that during her talks with President Obama and after being pressured by Washington for more involvement, Mrs. Merkel promised that Germany would contribute to the reconstruction of Libya.

Germany’s early non role in Libya was discussed before.  Leading up to the debate and start of the no-fly-zone over Libya, chancellor Angela Merkel was not looking good politically with state elections coming up.  Her administration wrongly calculated not to get involved at the start since her party was defeated in a strong, usually dependent conservative area for her party. After withering criticism both abroad and domestically, Germany decided to rethink about getting involved in Libya.

Recognition by Germany will only further legitimize the Libyan opposition to the international community.  This is important for a few reasons. One it makes it easier to walk into international organizations such as the UN, World Bank, IMF and secure the needed funds, investments, diplomatic support for the county after being mismanaged by Gaddafi and his close associates.  Second, moral is boosted for the opposition and rebel fighters taking on Gaddafi’s forces.