EU to Send Envoys for 'Listening Exercise' with Libyan Rebels

Libyan rebel fighter checks his machine gun near the city of Brega, Libya, on 04 April 2011. EPA/BGNES

The EU is sending diplomatic envoys to establish a more thorough communication with the Libyan rebel movement fighting the regime of dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The EU envoys will leave for the rebel capital Benghazi on Tuesday, according to Michael Mann, Spokesperson for EU High Representative for foreign and security policy Catherine Ashton.

"There is a mission going to Libya tomorrow. It is a listening exercise," Michael Mann announced in Brussels Monday.

The EU mission is supposed to help gain a better understanding of the anti-Gaddafi rebels and how much support they have throughout Libya.

France has already recognized the rebels as a legitimate government, and has stationed a special envoy in Benghazi.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Fratini met one of the members of the rebels' National Council on Monday. Fratini stated that Italy has decided to recognise the National Transitional Council in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi as its "only legitimate interlocutor" in Libya.

The EU has not formally recognized the Libyan rebels as a legitimate government unlike France and Italy.

10 EU states are taking part in Operation Odyssey Dawn, the continuing NATO-led operation to maintain a no-fly zone and to target Gaddafi's military in order to protect civilians, according to a UN resolution.

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