Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, and David Cameron, UK prime minister, have arrived in Libya on the first trip to the country by European leaders since they led international efforts to oust Muammer Gaddafi.
Mr Sarkozy and Mr Cameron will meet National Transitional Council leaders in Tripoli, before flying to Benghazi, where they are expected to speak in the former rebel stronghold’s Liberty Square.
Security in Libya is far from secure, with Col Gaddafi still at large and his loyalists fighting in several towns. Mustafa Abdul Jalil, NTC chief, has pledged that “the leaders . . . will be safe”. Mr Sarkozy is travelling with 160 security officers, mostly from the CRS riot squad.
The French and British leaders were pivotal figures in mobilising international backing for the rebels. Their visit to Libya will be aimed at giving momentum to efforts by the NTC to re-establish order in Tripoli after Col Gaddafi’s fall.
Mr Cameron told the BBC at Tripoli airport that he was delighted to be in the city. He said he wanted to “work for a better and free and democratic Libya”.
For Mr Sarkozy, TV pictures of the trip will be of political significance as he fights for re-election next spring. For Mr Cameron, the toppling of Col Gaddafi is a foreign policy success in an otherwise troubled first year at the head of the UK’s Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition.
Both men had mooted the idea of making such a trip when they met at a “Friends of Libya” conference on September 1 to discuss the country’s future.
“It’s an historic moment to go to Libya today,” François Baroin, French finance minister, told France Info radio ahead of the formal announcement of the visit.
Mr Baroin said the operation to remove the Libyan leader had been “a military success, a diplomatic success and the success of a certain idea of liberty, as well as a success for France’s position in the world.”
Mr Cameron, Mr Sarkozy and other leaders of the coalition that helped topple Col Gaddafi earlier this month pledged economic and military support to Libya’s new administration even as the former ruler vowed a long insurgency against his opponents. His spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, says the deposed leader is in Libya.
The north African nation’s new leaders are attempting to consolidate their gains, restore stability and create a functioning government.
“The future of Libya belongs to its people and the task of the international community is to support them as they build that future,” Mr Cameron told lawmakers in the House of Commons in London on September 5. “The struggle is not over. The long work of building a new Libya is just beginning.”
Aircraft in the Nato-led force are continuing operations against the remnants of pro-Gaddafi forces. Living conditions in Sirte, the coastal city held by forces loyal to Col Gaddafi, are deteriorating as food and water supplies run low.
More than six months of fighting to end Col Gaddafi’s 42-year rule have reduced oil output and disrupted power supplies in the country with Africa’s largest crude reserves.
The United Nations Credentials Committee decided on Wednesday the NTC should represent Libya at the UN General Assembly next week, in what would be a significant step towards its international acceptance.
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