Libya rebel council to seek funds at Qatar summit as transition “begins immediately”

Senior Libyan rebel official Mahmoud Jibril said on Tuesday that the country’s transition “begins immediately” and that Qatar would host a meeting on Wednesday to organize $2.4 billion in aid for the country as the Libya rebel council is set to move to Tripoli this week.

Speaking at a press conference in Doha, the number two in the National Transitional Council said “we will build a new Libya, with all Libyans as brothers for a united, civil and democratic nation.”

“This is the new Libya where every Libyan works as a beloved brother, hand in hand, to serve the interests of the nation to ensure equality and justice for everyone.”

“We have to be transparent in front of the whole world. Now we have to concentrate on building and healing our wounds,” he said according to AFP.

He said the meeting of donor nations on Wednesday would be “to make provisions and arrange for $2.4 billion for the NTC in order to pay salaries of Libyans before Eid and to arrange for all the medical treatment and the artificial limbs which are required for the injured.”

Members of the NTC will meet with representatives from the United States, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Turkey and Qatar at a summit on Wednesday in Doha to discuss the issue, he said, according to Reuters.

Eid al-Fitr is the holiday that marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which comes to a close on or around August 30.

Speaking to the young people of Libya “who brought us our dignity back,” Jibril said: “I would like to confirm to them that this is your revolution and you will have to continue the march to finish the revolution ... to participate in the creation and establishment of the Libyan state in order to move Libya forward.”

Jibril praised “our revolutionaries, who have written a page in history .... They allowed Tripoli to be liberated, and for that help they are in our hearts.”

Earlier on Tuesday, the United States said it is seeking to release up to $1.5 billion in frozen Libyan assets in order to help the rebels establish a secure government and meet humanitarian needs.

“We are also working urgently today ... this week, to be able to release between a billion and 1.5 billion dollars in US-held frozen Libyan assets,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

Meanwhile, Libya’s rebel National Transitional Council will move its headquarters to the capital Tripoli from it eastern stronghold of Benghazi within two days, a military spokesman, Ahmed Bani, told Al Arabiya on Tuesday.

Bani said that rebels were fighting Qaddafi’s loyalists for control of Sabha, an important city in Libya’s southern desert that is likely to be his last stronghold, a senior rebel spokesman said on Tuesday.

Bani told Al Arabiya that the rebels were currently negotiating with tribal leaders in Sirte, Qaddafi’s hometown, for the surrender of the Mediterranean coastal city without bloodshed.

“There is a vicious battle between the free Libyans (rebels) and remnants of the tyrant,” Bani told Arabiya after rebels entered Qaddafi’s main stronghold of Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli. “Sabha will be the last stronghold for him.”

Sabha is around 600 km (400 miles) south of the Libyan capital Tripoli, which was overrun by rebels this week.

He said Qaddafi was “being protected by foreigners whom he brought from neighboring countries and granted Libyan citizenship.”

“But our rebels and the people in Sabha, we are capable of finishing the battle, as we did in Benghazi, Misrata and Tripoli,” Bani said.

Referring to the situation in Sirte, Bani said: “Regarding Sirte, there are negotiations now for the entry of the rebels to the city without bloodshed from either side.”