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Canada denies recognizing rebels as Libya government

05 May 2011 22:48 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Canada on Thursday said rebels trying to overthrow Libyan President Moamer Kadhafi are a "valid interlocutor," but denied the fighters’ claims that Ottawa has formally recognized them as the new government, APA reports quoting news.yahoo.com website.
"There has been no change in Canada’s position on recognition. Canada recognizes states, not governments. Libya, as a state, continues to exist," foreign affairs spokeswoman Lisa Monette told AFP.
The rebels said Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain had become the latest states to recognize their new national council, but the states quickly denied the claim.
"We continue to consider the Transitional National Council (TNC) as a valid interlocutor," said Monette.
She said Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon had met with a senior representative of the group in Paris.
Canadian officials are also in regular contact with TNC representatives and the TNC has recently appointed a representative to Canada.
International powers meanwhile were meeting in Rome Thursday to try to set up a new fund to aid Libya’s rebels, but said plans to finance it by unfreezing billions in foreign assets from Kadhafi’s regime were being held up.
A popular uprising against Kadhafi that began in mid-February has left the oil-rich north African state split between the largely Kadhafi-controlled west and the rebel east.