Turkey recognises Libya rebels

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu visited the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi and pledged $200m in aid to the rebel Transitional National Council.

It was time for leader Muammar Gaddafi to leave Libya, Davutoglu said, declaring the rebel National Council “a legitimate representative of the Libyan people.”

“Public demand for reforms should be answered, Gaddafi should go and Libya shouldn’t be divided,” Ahmet Davutoglu said.

Istanbul has long maintained ties with Colonel Gaddafi’s regime and initially expressed discomfort at Nato air strikes.

The aid is in addition to a $100m fund for Libyan rebels Turkey announced in June.

Meanwhile, South African President Jacob Zuma announced he would be visiting Moscow to continue negotiations to resolve the conflict.

As part of his role in the African Union he visited Tripoli at the end of May but failed to gain any concessions from Gaddafi.

The visit to Russia follows an AU summit in Equatorial Guinea, which attempted to push a regional peace plan to end the conflict in the north African nation.

The Kremlin said in a statement that Zuma and Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, held a telephone conversation in which they agreed to meet as soon as possible.

“The heads of state agreed on a personal meeting in the closest time to agree and co-ordinate the ensuing steps for a solution to the internal Libyan conflict,” it said.