Oil-for-recognition
And yet, it is not with the sole purpose of putting Libya’s political life and economy back on track that representatives of some 60 countries will be gathering. Major players are making no secret of their eagerness to grab a bigger slice of the Libyan oil pie.
France’s Liberation newspaper reported on Thursday that no sooner had UN resolution 1973 on the “no-fly zone” been adopted, than the NTC approached the French leadership with a tempting offer of 35 per cent of Libya’s oil sector in exchange for “full and constant support.” The offer was made in a letter sent on April 3rd to the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, whose country mediated contacts between Paris and Benghazi.
The newspaper also states that a copy of this letter was forwarded to Amr Mussa, an Egyptian politician who was also the Secretary-General of the Arab League until June 1, 2011. It was he who addressed the UN Security Council back in March with an appeal to establish a no-fly zone over Libya.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe dismissed the existence of any such agreements, saying, though, that any preferential treatment dished out to countries that supported the rebels would be logical.
“The NTC did announce officially that during the period of reconstruction preference would be given to those countries which supported it,” Itar-Tass quoted him as saying. “I believe this is logic and fair.”
