Canada to re-open embassy in Libya

OTTAWA - The Canadian government has sent a team of diplomats into Tripoli to make preparations for re-opening Canada's embassy there and resume diplomatic relations, Foreign Minister John Baird announced Tuesday.

In a brief statement to reporters outside the House of Commons, Baird said Canada now has diplomatic relations with the rebel regime that continued to fight Muammar Gaddafi for control of the north African country.

The team, led by Canadian Ambassador to Libya Sandra McCardell, entered Tripoli over the weekend. It has set up a temporary headquarters because the Canadian embassy, which was damaged in the recent fighting in Tripoli, would need repairs and furbishing.

No exact date for the re-opening of the Canadian embassy in Libya is given for the time being.

More diplomats would soon be sent to Tripoli to open trade and consular offices.

Baird said he didn't expect Gaddafi could re-take power in Libya. "Gadhafi is almost universally isolated. He and those closest to him are on the run."

Canada was one of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries that supported rebel groups fighting Gaddafi's regime through the spring and summer.

Canada sent six fighter planes and a frigate to join the US, British and other NATO forces. A Canadian general has been leading the NATO mission.

Baird announced Canada would release some $2.23 billion of frozen Libyan assets to the National Transitional Council, the government that has been established by the anti- Gaddafi forces, for humanitarian aid.

"These funds will help the Libyan people in the short and medium term, whether it's helping to pay for police officers or teachers, restoring electricity or water, or helping to ensure hospitals have what they need to operate, this money will help the new government of Libya get back on its feet," Baird said.

"While security still remains a challenge on the ground, life is slowly returning to normal in Tripoli," he said.

"Citizens are resuming their daily activities, the availability of goods is improving and vital services are in the process of being restored in the capital," said Baird, adding the new Libyan regime has not yet shown how it would govern the country, but Canada and other NATO partners expect it to "fulfill its commitments to freedom, to democracy, to human rights and to the rule of law."