US transfers Libyan embassy to rebels

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US transfers Libyan embassy to rebels

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US said Wednesday it has transferred Libyan embassy in Washington to Transitional Council.

10 August,2011 07:45 pm

Washington has recognised the Council as Libyas de facto government.It is true, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters when asked whether the United States had handed the embassy over to the rebel NTC.Nulands deputy Mark Toner said the United States and NTC signed documents that transferred the embassy – which once represented Moamer Kadhafis regime in Washington -- to the rebels based in the eastern Libyan port of Benghazi.At a meeting last month in Istanbul, the United States and other powers recognised the NTC as the legitimate governing authority in Libya until an interim government is formed.Ali Aujali, who was accredited as Libyas ambassador, defected from the Kadhafi regime in February as violence erupted and affiliated himself with the National Transitional Council.It was not immediately clear whether Aujali would head the new mission. Nor was it clear whether the embassy was now staffed with the NTC.