Qatar has become the first Arab country to recognise Libya’s rebel national council as the representative of the North African nation, easing the way for the opposition to profit from oil sales on global markets.
Over the past two days, rebels have seized control of the bulk of Libya’s oil industry – including the country’s largest oilfields in the so-called Sirte basin and the main terminals – as they have pushed back Muammer Gaddafi’s forces with the assistance of Nato air strikes.
Qatar’s move followed a senior Libyan opposition leader’s announcement that Doha had also agreed to sell oil on behalf of the opposition. Qatari officials have yet to confirm the oil deal.