The Libya Contact Group was an international collective established to support the Libyan National Transitional Council in their effort to overthrow the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya . It was hosted by western nations and members of the Arab League , and known by a variety of other names including the Friends of Libya and the International Contact Group for Libya.
7-652: The Contact Group was set up following the London Conference on Libya in March 2011. The conference included United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon , prominent delegates from the Arab League and from European countries, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , and representatives from NATO . Leaders of the Libyan National Transitional Council including Mahmoud Jibril were consulted prior to
14-927: The United Nations , the League of Arab States , the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation , the European Union and NATO . The meeting was chaired by the British Foreign Secretary William Hague . While leaders of the Libyan opposition including Mahmoud Jibril were consulted prior to the conference, they did not attend. The meeting resulted in the setting up of the Libya Contact Group , which served as an organizational basis for intervention in Libya until
21-649: The conference but did not attend. Its first three meetings were in Doha , Rome and Abu Dhabi . In its fourth meeting, held in Istanbul in July 2011 and attended by American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , the Contact Group announced its participants' agreement to deal with the Libyan National Transitional Council , the major coalition of anti-Gaddafi forces , as the "legitimate governing authority in Libya". The fifth meeting
28-586: The last meeting of Libya Contact Group: Nigeria and Saudi Arabia reportedly did attend. London Conference on Libya The London Conference on Libya was an international meeting of government representatives in London on 29 March 2011 to discuss intervention in the Libyan Civil War on behalf of the National Transitional Council . Attendees included foreign ministers and leaders from
35-574: The meeting on 1 September 2011 in Paris , the Contact Group was dissolved and replaced with a new international meeting group called the Friends of Libya. A second Friends of Libya conference was held on September 20, 2011 in New York City. Belgium , Luxembourg , and Netherlands shared a rotating Benelux seat. Denmark , Norway , and Sweden had a similar arrangement, sharing a Nordic seat. Bulgaria
42-613: Was originally an observer, but it began sitting as a full member at the June meeting in Abu Dhabi and thereafter. South Africa boycotted the September meeting in Paris . Arab League , Gulf Cooperation Council and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation were originally observers, but they began sitting as a full members probably from 29 of July. President of France Nicolas Sarkozy invited several new countries and one international organisation on
49-574: Was planned to take place in New York on September, but the events in Tripoli forced the members to meet again in Istanbul on extraordinary meeting on 25 August to set up road map for construction of "new Libya". The group recognized the progress made by the Libyan people, NTC, and NATO forces, and underlined the importance of continued support from all entities in the formation of a free and democratic Libya. At
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