France - $259m to Libya rebels
2011-08-01 21:06
Paris - France is to hand over $259m in funds confiscated from Muammar Gaddafi and his inner circle to Libya's opposition Transitional National Council (TNC), the Foreign Ministry in Paris announced on Monday.
The TNC would be able to use the funds "for purchases of a humanitarian nature," the ministry said in a short statement following a meeting between Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and the TNC's newly-appointed envoy to Paris, Mansour Seyf al-Nasr.
France was the first Western country to recognise the Council, which is fighting Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule, as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people.
The United States, Britain, Germany, Turkey and other countries have since followed suit.
Al-Nasr is to take up residence at the Libyan embassy in Paris.
Juppe welcomed his nomination as a sign of the "closeness and the confidence that characterise relations between France and the TNC".
The handover of the funds was seen an expression of support for the TNC after the assassination last week of the rebels' military leader Abdel Fattah Younes in Benghazi raised questions over divisions in the rebels' camp.
- SAPA