Libyan rebels announce transfer of government to Tripoli

The Libyan fighters have officially announced that they have made the countrys capital, Tripoli, the seat of their government.I declare the beginning and assumption of the executive committees work in Tripoli, Ali Tahuni, a senior official of the rebel National Transitional Council, told a press conference in the capital.Long live democratic and constitutional Libya and glory to our martyrs, he said, announcing the holders of key posts in a new provisional government.Tahuni, the executive committees vice-chairman and minister of oil and economics, said NTC head Mustafa Abdel Jalil would arrive in Tripoli as soon as the security situation permitted.At the same time the UN Security Council released $1.5 billion of seized Libyan assets to be used for emergency aid after the United States and South Africa ended a dispute over the money.The last-minute accord with South Africa meant that the United States did not press for a Security Council 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 NTC, only that the money would be directed through the relevant authorities.Washington said Thursday the money would pay for UN programmes, energy bills, health, education and food, and would not be used for any military purposes.Earlier a senior rebel official said diplomats of the Contact Group on Libya had agreed in Istanbul to speed up the release of some $2.5 billion in frozen Libyan assets by the middle of next week.In Milan, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Rome would release next week 350 million euros ($504 million) frozen in Italian banks.The announcements came less than three days after rebel forces swarmed into Libyan strongman Moamer Gaddafis sprawling compound in the centre of the capital, defeating his fighters in fierce clashes and seizing control of most of the city.But Gaddafi was nowhere to be found and on Thursday he broadcast a new audio calling on the populace to take up arms.