AFP/Tripoli
An anti-Gaddafi fighter flashes a victory sign as he walks to man a checkpoint 1km from the besieged city of Bani Walid yesterday
Libya’s new rulers basked in a wave of international support yesterday, as they awaited a visit by the leaders of Britain and France, and Washington pledged to respect the right of Libyans to decide their own future.
British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are planning to visit Libya today, sources said in Paris.
Both Cameron’s and Sarkozy’s offices declined to comment when asked about the trip, but the head of Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) Mustafa Abdel Jalil confirmed that Sarkozy would visit.
He added that “we say to the leaders coming tomorrow that they will be safe.”
Earlier, a senior US official said after meeting Abdel Jalil that Washington stood behind the Libyan people, as Spain reopened its embassy in the capital and said it had secured UN approval to release 350mn euros ($480mn) in frozen Libyan accounts to the country’s new rulers.
“The US respects Libya’s sovereignty,” said Jeffrey Feltman, the highest ranking US official to visit the Libyan capital since its capture from Gaddafi’s forces on August 23.
“This is a victory by the Libyan people and Libya’s destiny must be decided by Libyans alone,” the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs told a news conference.
His visit came as a top-level team from the African Union, which has refused to recognise the NTC, discussed ways to press for an inclusive Libyan government at a gathering in Pretoria, South Africa.
Feltman paid tribute to the work of NTC in overseeing the transition from Muammar Gaddafi’s 42 years of iron-fisted rule.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, he said, had been reassured after the NTC renewed its commitment to respect rights and promised to investigate allegations of abuses following a damning report by Amnesty International.
Another group, the Mali-based Defence of Foreigners in Libya, yesterday accused Libya’s new authorities of jailing and torturing some 300 foreigners, mostly Tuaregs from Mali and Niger, suspected of being Gaddafi backers.
EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton expressed concern over the reported rights violations, notably towards sub-Saharan Africans.
“I remain very concerned at recent reports of human rights violations in Libya, including cases of arbitrary detention and extra-judicial killings,” Ashton said.
In neighbouring Niger, Gaddafi’s son Saadi was under guard in the capital Niamey after fleeing Libya at the weekend, but Nato acknowledged it has no idea where the toppled despot himself is holed up.