New york - The UN Security Council on Thursday agreed to release $1.5bn of seized Libya assets to buy emergency aid after the US and South Africa ended a dispute over the cash.
South Africa had been blocking the unfreezing of assets for two weeks and the last-minute accord meant the US would not press for a vote at the Security Council to force the release of the money. "There is an accord, there will not be a vote," a diplomat close to the talks told AFP.
With the dispute dragging on for two weeks, the United States had threatened to seek a full UN Security Council vote on Thursday to make the assets available.
The last-minute accord with South Africa meant that the US did not press for the vote. A new request was immediately made and approved by the Libya sanctions committee, diplomats said.
"The money will be moving within days," a US diplomat said.
The new request made no mention of the transitional council, only that the money would be directed through the "relevant authorities."
Neither South Africa nor the African Union has recognized the NTC, and South African diplomats had insisted that sending money to the rebel government implied international recognition.
South Africa's UN ambassador Baso Sangqu said that an African Union summit in Addis Ababa had approved the accord with the United States.
He added, however, that "these concerns are not going to go away until and unless the AU has taken" a decision on recognition.
"We are very pleased with the outcome," deputy US ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo told reporters after the accord was struck.
"It is extremely important that everyone on the council recognizes the need to support the Libyan people at this time," she said, adding that the "relevant authorities are the NTC."
The United States said Thursday that the $1.5bn of Libyan assets it wants released would pay for UN programs, energy bills, health, education and food, and would not be used for any "military purposes".
State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said $500m would go toward UN programs in Libya, including $120m for services provided by UN agencies like the World Health Organisation, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN children's fund, UNICEF, and the World Food Program.
"The rest of that $500m would be held to pay for future UN-led programming," Nuland said.
Another $500m will go towards paying for energy bills owed to foreign entities which provide electricity for desalination plants, hospitals and other public facilities.
"None of this will go for lethal or military purposes," Nuland insisted.
The third tranche of $500m will be placed in a so-called Temporary Financial Mechanism (TFM), set up in June by the international community, and will pay for future health, education and food needs.