Turkey said on today that it supported a proposal to release $3 billion of frozen Libyan assets to help civilians on both sides of the war prepare for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Speaking at the opening of the international contact group on Libya meeting in Istanbul, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the humanitarian situation was a cause of “grave concern”.
The request for access to the frozen funds had come from the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) in Benghazi.
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been pledged to special financial mechanism, but tens of millions in frozen Gadhafi regime assets in the United States and elsewhere are still inaccessible to rebels because of the lack of recognition and U.N. sanctions.
The U.S. and a growing number of countries consider the council the legitimate interlocutor for the Libyan people but do not formally recognize it as Libya’s government. The council has been seeking formal recognition from the United States and others for months.
Davutoglu said it was the legitimate representative of Libya.
“We see merit in the suggestion of the NTC for the release of $3 billion from the frozen assets of Libya under U.N. supervision,” Davutoglu said in an address to delegations from 27 countries and representatives of international and regional organisations.
He said the money should be equally distributed “during Ramadan season to Tripoli and Benghazi on the condition that it will only be used for providing humanitarian assistance”.
Ramadan begins at the start of August this year.
In the run-up to the Istanbul gathering, Davutoglu expressed hopes that the framework for a political solution to end the conflict could emerge by Ramadan.
Co-chairing the meeting along with the United Arab Emirates, the Turkish foreign minister called for the contact group to focus on these efforts, while keeping up pressure on Muammar Gaddafi’s government in Tripoli and looking for fresh ways to support the NTC.
Davutoglu called the NTC the legitimate representative of the Libyan people and said it should lead efforts toward stabilising and reconstructing the country, and plan for the post-conflict recovery.
Given the legal difficulties releasing money frozen by the United Nations,
Greek Foreign minister Stavros Lambrinidis (L) and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu chat before the fourth meeting of the International Contact Group for Libya, in Istanbul, Turkey on 15 July 2011.
suggested the assets could be used as collateral by governments providing financial aid to the NTC administration in Benghazi.
“Above all, the alleviation of the NTC’s urgent need for cash is of primary importance as we approach the holy month of Ramadan,” Davutoglu said.
“In this respect I would like to encourage all our partners in the contact group to consider opening credit lines to the NTC amounting to a certain percentage of the Libyan frozen assets in their country,” he said
via Turkey backs unfreezing $3 billlion over Ramadan | Libya TV.