Libya’s rebel council officially took over the country’s embassy in Britain yesterday, opening its doors as the legitimate represent-ative of the Libyan people in London.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who invited the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) to take over the embassy and appoint an official envoy at the end of last month, welcomed the move.
“The National Transitional Council is the sole legitimate governmental authority in Libya. It is therefore right that their representatives are now staffing the Libyan embassy,” Mr Hague said.
“Doing so marks very clearly the fundamental change that is taking place in Libya.”
He said Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, whose diplomats were expelled from Britain last month following Mr Hague’s announcement, had lost all legitimacy and was now trying to keep hold of power “with increasing desperation”.
The embassy is now headed by the NTC’s chargé d’affaires, Mahmud Nacua, who officially opened the mission by hoisting the black, red and green Libyan flag with a crescent and star which Col Gaddafi had banned for more than 40 years.
In a statement, Mr Nacua said it was a “very important moment”, saying: “The reopening of the embassy symbolises how far we have come.”
He promised the diplomatic mission would “serve all the Libyan community irrespective of their political allegiances”, and thanked the British government for its “steadfast support”.
Britain is one of the lead nations in a Nato-led alliance that has conducted an aerial bombing campaign against Col Gaddafi’s regime since March, when the UN approved action to protect civilians. Meanwhile, Canada yes-terday ordered Libya’s diplomats to leave the country within five days and cut off their access to the embassy’s bank accounts, in a bid to further isolate the Gaddafi regime.
“These people now have five business days to vacate the embassy and leave the country,” Foreign Minister Baird said in a statement.
A spokesman for Mr Baird said four diplomats at the embassy had been declared personae non gratae.
The United States tightened its sanctions against Libya-controlled banks in June, and yesterday the European Union slapped further sanctions on the regime, targeting two “economic entities” linked to Col Gaddafi.