Libyan Foreign Minister quits post, arrives in London from Tunisia

Libyan Foreign Minister Mussa Kussa arrived in Britain yesterday, telling the British government that he was resigning from his post, Britain’s Foreign Office (FCO) said.

“We can confirm that Mussa Kussa arrived at Farnborough Airport on 30 March from Tunisia,” an FCO statement said.

“He travelled here under his own free will. He has told us that he is resigning his post,” it added.

The Libyan official arrived in Britain following a two-day stay in Tunisia, which was officially described as a “private visit.”

“Mussa Kussa is one of the most senior figures in Gaddafi’s government and his role was to represent the regime internationally, something that he is no longer willing to do,” the British statement continued.

“We encourage those around Gaddafi to abandon him and embrace a better future for Libya that allows political transition and real reform that meets the aspirations of the Libyan people,” it concluded.

However, on Tuesday top Nato commander and US Admiral James Stavridis said the alliance was trying to gain a clearer picture of the rebels who had advanced with the help of Western-led coalition air strikes.

“We have seen flickers in the intelligence of potential Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah. We’ve seen different things,” he said, referring to Osama Bin Laden’s global jihadist network and Lebanon’s Shiite Muslim militia.

“At this point, I don’t have detail sufficient to say that there’s a significant Al-Qaeda presence or any other terrorist presence in and among” (rebel forces), Stavridis said.

Al-Qaeda militant Abu Yahya al-Libi, himself a Libyan whose whereabouts are unknown, has urged on the rebellion against Gaddafi, and Al-Qaeda in North Africa has vowed to do everything in its power to help.

Britain is expelling five Libyan diplomats including the country’s military attache, for intimidating opposition groups in London, Foreign Secretary William Hague said, while the Netherlands has frozen more than three billion euros of assets as part of EU sanctions against the Libyan regime.

“We informed the parliament that €3.1 billion of Libyan assets have been frozen since March 2,” a spokesman for Dutch Finance Minister Niels Redeker said.

Nato began to take command of Libyan air operations from a US-led coalition as warplanes and other assets from several allies came under the military organisation’s control.

“Today Nato aircraft are flying under Nato command in the Libyan sky,” Nato spokesman Oana Lungescu said.

“This is a phased process, which will be completed as soon as all allies and partners have transferred authority for their assets,” Mr Lungescu said.

A spokesman for the rebel Transitional National Council, Mustafa Ghuriani, told reporters in the Benghazi “it would be naive to think we are not arming ourselves” to match the weaponry deployed by Kadhafi loyalists.

But he declined to confirm or deny that France and the United States were offering to supply arms, saying only that unspecified “friendly nations” were backing the rebels.