THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Libya's opposition is to get access to a special $3 billion (£1.8 billion) trust fund established by its Western backers to finance the breakaway regions fighting Col Muammar Gaddafi.The Libya Contact Group will seek to unfreeze Libyan state assets to replenish the rebels' coffers through the initiative at a meeting in Rome.
That would include allowing the rebels to sell oil from territory under their control, but there are legal questions over who exactly owns the oil, given that Gaddafi is still in power.
There are also legal issues over whether assets owned by the regime and seized abroad could be given to the Libyan leader's opponents.
The rebels' National Transitional Council has said it urgently needs supplies of food and medicine as well as salaries for state employees.
The council said that without urgent funds from the West, the rebel leadership will face food shortages within three to four weeks and a humanitarian crisis. » | Nick Squires, Rome | Wednesday, May 04, 2011
