Africa

Africa

Algeria not to give official response to allegation of its backing Gaddafi

19 April 2011 22:18 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. An Algerian diplomatic source said his country will not officially respond to a complaint submitted by Libyan rebels’ Transitional National Council (TNC) to the Arab League (AL), alleging that Algeria is assisting Gaddafi forces with arms and mercenaries, APA reports quoting Xinhua News Agency.

The local El Khabar newspaper Tuesday quoted what it called "a high ranking diplomat official" as saying that "such a complaint is zero, it’s a sheet that doesn’t deserve to be responded to, because it is based on statements made by an association based abroad, while facts are occurring inside Libya."

The source said that "the complaint is not only insignificant and unreliable, but also unofficial, given that the membership of Libya in the AL is suspended ... Algeria will not respond officially to the AL."

The London based Arabic-language Middle East newspaper said Monday the TNC Sunday submitted a complaint to the general secretary of the AL urging him to install a facts-finding panel over what the TNC called "suspicious abuses of the Algerian air force and Air Algeria which carried military equipment and mercenaries to Libya to back up Muammar Gaddafi."

The complaint alleged that 51 flights had landed at airports of Tripoli, Mitiga, saying "the flights were conducted secretly by the Algeria Air Force."

The Algerian Foreign Ministry has rebuffed TNC’s accusation that Algeria sent mercenaries there, saying the charges are " irresponsible." The ministry said in a statement that TNC chief Mustafa Abdul Jalil had persisted with the claims despite repeated Algerian denials.

"This irresponsible obstinacy to involve the Algerian authorities at all costs, making us wonder about the intentions and motivation of those behind this conspiracy against a country blamed because it has refused to interfere in the Libyan interior affairs, deplored the disproportionate use of force and warned against the deadly dangers of the infiltration of terrorist groups in the Libyan territory," said the Foreign Ministry.

Libyan rebels said they raised the issue of Gaddafi’s using of foreign mercenaries from other African and Arab countries, particularly Algeria, during talks with an African Union delegation working to seek a cease-fire in Libya.

Meanwhile, the local Algerian Echorouk newspaper quoted sources as saying "the security chaos in Libya, since the start of the fighting between rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces have led to stealing arms from arsenals, and for now about 20 million piece of weapons are in the hands of rebels and extremist groups."