London, July 28 (ANI): Britain is set to help Libyan rebels to get hundreds of millions of pounds after Foreign secretary William Hague declared Libya's national transitional council the country's 'sole governmental authority'.
Hague announced he is expelling all remaining Libyan diplomats and handing the country's embassy in London over to rebel leaders, the Daily Mail reports.
A total of 91million pounds in assets from a rebel-controlled Libyan oil company, Agoco, is to be released immediately, and Britain will seek United Nations approval for much larger sums to be handed over.
Libyan assets frozen in the UK total about 12billion dollars, the paper said.
Foreign Office sources said it would be up to rebel leaders to determine what should happen to Gaddafi if he is finally toppled.
Britain is expelling the Libyan charge d'affaires and all eight remaining Libyan embassy staff in London.
The charge has been given three days to leave, while other diplomats at the Libyan People's Bureau, in Knightsbridge, have been told to depart over the course of the summer.
Hague said the NTC had shown its commitment to a more open and democratic Libya in stark contrast to Gaddafi whose brutality against the Libyan people has stripped him of all legitimacy'.
Rebel leaders have said they would spend the cash on food, public services and other humanitarian efforts, and not arms, in order to abide by an international arms embargo covering Libya, the paper said.
Hague said Britain only decided to recognize the NTC after it was clear that 5,000 Libyan students in Britain, who are funded by their embassy, would continue to be supported. (ANI)
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