20110328
reuters

DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar became the first Arab country on Monday to recognise Libya's rebels as the people's sole legitimate representative, in a move that may presage similar moves from other Gulf states.

Word of the decision came a day after a senior Libyan rebel official said Qatar had agreed to market crude oil produced from east Libyan fields no longer under the control of leader Muammar Gaddafi.

"This recognition comes from a conviction that the council has become, practically, a representative of Libya and its brotherly people," the Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a diplomatic note on Monday.

Explaining Qatar's decision, an unnamed official cited by Qatar's state news agency said the rebel council included representatives of different regions and had acceptance among the Libyan people.

Energy-rich Qatar was the first Arab country to join in patrols in the U.N.-backed no-fly zone over Libya last Friday. Doha-based news channel Al Jazeera has covered the revolt and several of its crew were kidnapped earlier this month and another was killed in an ambush.

France is the only Western country to have recognised the rebel council as the legitimate representative of Libya.

WAITING FOR AN OUTCOME

The head of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a loose economic and political bloc, said the "Libyan system has lost its legitimacy" and backed the move by the tiny Gulf Arab state.