The United Nations General Assembly on Friday gave Libya’s UN seat to the National Transitional Council which toppled Muammar Gaddafi.
The 193-member assembly voted 114 to 17 to let representatives of the council take over Libya’s UN mission in the face of opposition from left-wing Latin American governments. Some African nations called for a decision to be postponed.
The move allows interim government leader, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, to attend next week’s UN gathering of world leaders in New York. Jalil is to meet US President Barack Obama and other key leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
A group made up of Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and other left-leaning governments sought a vote to stop the NTC getting the UN seat.
Venezuela’s ambassador, Jorge Valero, called Libya’s rebel leadership “a group under the guidance of the United States and Nato which has no legal or moral authority”.
South Africa, had joined other members of the Southern African Development Community in calling for the decision to be deferred until more information on events in Libya was available.
The African Union has said it would not recognise the transitional government unless certain conditions were met. These conditions have not been explicitly outlined, but it is understood that the representation of all Libyan groupings in the interim government is desired by the bloc — up to, and possibly including, the previous government led by Gaddafi.
New government
Libya’s authorities will on Sunday name a new transitional government that represents all people in the North African country, two officials said.
“This government will comprise 30 members — it will be representative of all political groups and all regions — women are included,” one of the officials told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Last Sunday, Mahmud Jibril, the deputy chief of the National Transitional Council, said that a new transitional government would be formed within “one week to 10 days.”
“This new government will include representatives from different regions in Libya,” Jibril said, adding another government would be formed once “Libya is liberated”. — AFP