NOVANEWS
Reuters
Russia criticised on Monday the United States and other countries that have recognised the rebel National Transitional Council as Libya’s legitimate government, saying they were taking sides in the civil war.
Setting Russia apart from the West, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said nations that recognised the rebel National Transition Council (TNC) were pursuing a “policy of isolation” he suggested could undermine efforts to end the five-month war.
“Those who declare such recognition stand fully on the side of one political force in a civil war,” Lavrov said.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the recognition at a meeting in Turkey on Friday of an international contact group on Libya, which is seeking a political solution that would remove Muammar Gaddafi from power.
The major diplomatic step could unblock billions of dollars in frozen Libyan funds.
Russia, which in the past has warned the contact group not to try to eclipse the authority of the UN Security Council, was invited to the meeting for the first time along with China, but both decided not to get involved.
Russia has also said Gaddafi must go, but has criticised the Western bombing campaign and urged talks between rebels and the government. Lavrov suggested that recognising the rebel council as Libya’s sole legitimate government would not help.
“Supporters of such a decision are supporters of a policy of isolation, in this case the isolation of those forces that represent Tripoli,” said Lavrov, adding that Moscow is in contact with both Tripoli and the rebels.
“We… reject isolation as a method of solving problems and support inclusion,” Lavrov said.
He said the sides should “show responsibility for the fate of the people and the country and sit at the negotiating table” for a “focused, very concrete dialogue about the conditions under which transitional structures could be formed.”
Those structures would prepare for reforms, legislative changes and “free and democratic elections,” he said.
Russia, which has veto power and a permanent UN Security Council member, abstained from voting on the March resolution that authorised the Western force in Libya but has accused the NATO nations involved of overstepping their mandate.
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After securing the town of Ras Lanuf, opposition fighters gather at a new checkpoint about 25 miles west of the rebel-held town to celebrate and prepare for a new push further west, in Libya, March 5, 2011. Each side of the nascent civil war in Libya pushed forward Saturday as militia forces loyal to Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi launched a second day of brutal attacks on the rebel-held city of Zawiyah, just 30 miles west of the capital, and a ragtag rebel army moving from the east won its first ground battle to take the oil port of Ras Lanuf about midway down the Mediterranean coast. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times) #
An opposition fighter fires his weapon in front of a burning ambulance during a battle against supporters of Libya’s leader, Col. Moammar Gadhafi, in Brega, Libya on March 2, 2011. In a fierce day-long battle, rebel forces in the strategic oil town of Brega successfully repelled an attack on Wednesday by government-aligned mercenaries backed by artillery and war planes, as rebel reinforcements arrived from the nearby cities of Ajdabiya and Benghazi, witnesses in the town said. At least five were confirmed dead and 16 wounded in the fighting. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times) #
Opposition fighters hurdle a fence during their push west toward a new checkpoint, after securing the town of Ras Lanuf, Libya, March 5, 2011. Each side of the nascent civil war in Libya pushed forward Saturday as militia forces loyal to Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi launched a second day of brutal attacks on the rebel-held city of Zawiyah, just 30 miles west of the capital, and a ragtag rebel army moving from the east won its first ground battle to take the oil port of Ras Lanuf about midway down the Mediterranean coast. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times) #
Opposition fighters celebrate as they pass a burning ambulance after a battle against supporters of Libya’s leader, Col. Moammar Gadhafi, in Brega, Libya on March 2, 2011. In a fierce day-long battle, rebel forces in the strategic oil town of Brega successfully repelled an attack on Wednesday by government-aligned mercenaries backed by artillery and war planes, as rebel reinforcements arrived from the nearby cities of Ajdabiya and Benghazi, witnesses in the town said. At least five were confirmed dead and 16 wounded in the fighting. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times) #
A makeshift bomb is held in the hand of an opposition fighter flashing the victory sign after a battle with supporters of Libya’s leader, Col. Moammar Gadhafi, in Brega, Libya on March 2, 2011. In a fierce day-long battle, rebel forces in the strategic oil town of Brega successfully repelled an attack on Wednesday by government-aligned mercenaries backed by artillery and war planes, as rebel reinforcements arrived from the nearby cities of Ajdabiya and Benghazi, witnesses in the town said. At least five were confirmed dead and 16 wounded in the fighting. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times) #
After securing the town of Ras Lanuf, opposition fighters make their way west to a new checkpoint in Libya, March 5, 2011. Each side of the nascent civil war in Libya pushed forward Saturday as militia forces loyal to Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi launched a second day of brutal attacks on the rebel-held city of Zawiyah, just 30 miles west of the capital, and a ragtag rebel army moving from the east won its first ground battle to take the oil port of Ras Lanuf about midway down the Mediterranean coast. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times) #
After securing the town of Ras Lanuf, opposition fighters make their way west to a new checkpoint in Libya, March 5, 2011. Each side of the nascent civil war in Libya pushed forward Saturday as militia forces loyal to Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi launched a second day of brutal attacks on the rebel-held city of Zawiyah, just 30 miles west of the capital, and a ragtag rebel army moving from the east won its first ground battle to take the oil port of Ras Lanuf about midway down the Mediterranean coast. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times) #
After securing the town of Ras Lanuf, opposition fighters make their way west to a new checkpoint in Libya, March 5, 2011. Each side of the nascent civil war in Libya pushed forward Saturday as militia forces loyal to Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi launched a second day of brutal attacks on the rebel-held city of Zawiyah, just 30 miles west of the capital, and a ragtag rebel army moving from the east won its first ground battle to take the oil port of Ras Lanuf about midway down the Mediterranean coast. (Lynsey Addario/The New York Times) — MAGS OUT/NO SALES — #
After securing the town of Ras Lanuf, opposition fighters make their way west to a new checkpoint in Libya, March 5, 2011. Each side of the nascent civil war in Libya pushed forward Saturday as militia forces loyal to Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi launched a second day of brutal attacks on the rebel-held city of Zawiyah, just 30 miles west of the capital, and a ragtag rebel army moving from the east won its first ground battle to take the oil port of Ras Lanuf about midway down the Mediterranean coast. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times) #
After securing the town of Ras Lanuf, opposition fighters make their way west to a new checkpoint in Libya, March 5, 2011. Each side of the nascent civil war in Libya pushed forward Saturday as militia forces loyal to Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi launched a second day of brutal attacks on the rebel-held city of Zawiyah, just 30 miles west of the capital, and a ragtag rebel army moving from the east won its first ground battle to take the oil port of Ras Lanuf about midway down the Mediterranean coast. (Lynsey Addario/The New York Times) — MAGS OUT/NO SALES — #
An opposition fighter prays at checkpoint in the Libyan town of Brega, before pushing into Ras Lanuf, where they have battled throughout the day with forces loyal to Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi, March 4, 2011. Throughout the day, trucks mounted with guns and swarming with rebel fighters raced from the city of Brega, about 25 miles to the east of Ras Lanuf, to the front lines, where they confronted mortar fire and rocket-propelled grenades. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times) #
A boy collects spent shell casings at an opposition fighter checkpoint at the edge of Ajdabiya, Libya, on March 3, 2011. Mutinous units of the Libyan army deployed around an oil installation at Brega, near Ajdabiya, to secure the site on Thursday, a day after loyalists of Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi were repelled by fighters opposed to his rule. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times) #
