Reply #48: Libyan delegates back rebel council

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Libyan delegates back rebel council
Representatives from 25 Libyan towns meet for the first time in Abu Dhabi in a show of unity.
Last Modified: 09 May 2011 14:59

Representatives from 25 Libyan local councils have met for the first time in Abu Dhabi, expressing support for the uprising against longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi.

This is first time that leaders from councils and tribes in south and west Libya, away from the heartland of the rebellion in the east, have been able to meet. A representative from Sirte, Gaddafi's hometown, was among the more than 20 delegates in attendance on Monday.

The conference called for international recognition of the National Transitional Council (NTC) and for providing the rebels with advanced weaponry, they say, is needed to defeat Gaddafi's better-armed troops.

Representatives from smaller, beleaguered western cities such as Zwara used the meeting as a platform to publicise their sufferings, which have received less attention than Benghazi and Misurata, a western city and Libya's third-largest that has been besieged by Gaddafi's forces for months.

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http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/05/201159105950729624.html