Germany on Monday gave official recognition to Libya’s rebels, amid a surge in fighting across the country and as strongman Moamer Gaddafi said over a chess game he would not step down. Mikhail Margelov, the special envoy of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, said in Moscow meanwhile he would visit Tripoli next week to hold talks on the Libya conflict. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said after meeting rebel leaders in their capital Benghazi that Germany recognises their National Transitional Council as the “sole legitimate representative” of the Libyan people. “We want a free Libya, in peace and democracy without Gaddafi,” he added. Germany becomes the 13th nation to recognise the NTC as “sole legitimate representative,” after Australia, Britain, France, Gambia, Italy, Jordan, Malta, Qatar, Senegal, Spain, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. Berlin abstained from a UN Security Council resolution vote on March 17 backing intervention in Libya and chose not to join the NATO-led air war in support of the rebels.
