Washington respects the right of Libyans to decide their own future, a senior US official said yesterday in Tripoli, as the African Union pushed for an inclusive government after Muammar Gaddafi’s ouster.
“The United States respects Libya’s sovereignty,” said Jeffrey Feltman, the highest ranking US official to visit the Libyan capital since its capture from Gaddafi’s forces on August 23.
“A guideline of our partnership with the Libyan people will always be respect for Libya’s independence and sovereignty,” the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs told a news conference.
“This is a victory by the Libyan people and Libya’s destiny must be decided by Libyans alone,” he said after meeting the head of Libya’s National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil.
His visit came as a top-level team from the African Union, which has refused to recognise the NTC, began to discuss ways to press for an inclusive Libyan government at a gathering in Pretoria, South Africa.
Mr Feltman paid tribute to the work of NTC in overseeing the transition from Col Gaddafi’s 42 years of iron-fisted rule. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, he said, had been reassured after the NTC renewed its commitment to respecting rights and promised to investigate allegations of abuses following a damning report by Amnesty International.
“I told chairman Jalil that Secretary Clinton particularly welcomed his recent restatements of the (NTC’s) commitments to human rights, reconciliation and to inclusive transition progress, recognising the important roles of women and youth.”
Another group, the Mali-based Defence of Foreigners in Libya, yesterday accused Libya’s new authorities of jailing and torturing some 300 foreigners, mostly Tuaregs from Mali and Niger, suspected of being Col Gaddafi backers.
“Tuaregs are being tortured, hunted in the streets,” said the NGO, citing the case of six reported missing and rumoured to have been killed and buried in a mass grave, according to testimony gathered in Libya. EU Foreign Affairs Chief Catherine Ashton expressed concern over the reported rights violations, notably towards sub-Saharan Africans.
“I remain very concerned at recent reports of human rights violations in Libya, including cases of arbitrary detention and extra-judicial killings,” Ms Ashton said in a statement.
Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron were planning to visit Libya today in a trip that would be the first by foreign leaders since rebels ousted Col Gaddafi, sources said.
Britain and France spearheaded the Nato air war against Col Gaddafi’s forces that helped the rebels slowly fight their way towards Tripoli and install the National Transitional Council (NTC) as the new government there.
The two leaders will be accompanied by Bernard-Henri Levy, the French philosopher who championed Libya’s revolution and helped convince Mr Sarkozy to back the rebels, several sources said in Paris.
The trio were expected to meet with NTC leaders in Tripoli, while press reports said they may also travel to Benghazi, the eastern city where the uprising kicked off in February.
Both the offices of Mr Sarkozy and Mr Cameron declined to comment about the trip.
In an audio message aired yesterday, the deposed Libyan leader appealed for the international community to help his hometown of Sirte, encircled by forces loyal to Libya’s new government.