ISTANBUL: U.S. along with 30 other countries officially recognized Libya’s opposition National Transitional Council as the nation’s “legitimate governing authority”. This has opened doors for billions of dollars in frozen Libyan assets to be transferred to the country’s rebels.
This has come as a major boost for the opposition forces involved in a struggle to dismantle Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s government.
The U.S. and many of its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies have since long held the rebel group as a legitimate one.
“We still have to work through various legal issues, but we expect this step on recognition will enable the TNC to access additional sources of funding,” U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement.
However the transfer of funds could take time according to a U.S official who refused to give any time frame.
On the other hand Col. Gadhafi said he would continue to fight despite the decision.
The decision is being termed a decisive defeat for Col. Gadhafi by the rebels.
“It’s the final blow to make him realize he has no way out of this,” said Masoud Abdallah, a 46-year-old judge in Zintan, a town in Libya’s western mountains.
More than $30 billion of Libyan assets are frozen in the U.S.
