Rebel body to represent Libya at Arab League
Libyan rebel chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil at the National Transitional Council (NTC) headquarters in Benghazi on August 20, 2011. Photo/AFP
Libyan rebel body, the National Transitional Council, will represent the North African state in the Arab League, the secretary general of the League Nabil al-Arabi said on Thursday.
"There was an agreement among Arab countries at the last meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Doha that it is time for Libya to get its seat on the Arab League and that the NTC of Libya is the only legitimate representative of the Libyan state to the league," Nabil al-Arabi said.
On February 22, the League had barred Libya from its meetings until Tripoli responded to the demands of protesters.
The NTC will participate for the fist time Saturday at a League meeting in Cairo, Arabi told reporters. The meeting is expected to be devoted to events in Libya and Syria.
"From Saturday the (participation) of Libya will not be frozen," the representative of NTC in Cairo, Abdel Moneim al-Honi said.
The League, however, refuses to say that the latest initiative is an official recognition of the NTC because, according to an official of the Arab body, "the League is not a state to recognise Libya."
