Libyan opposition's treasury almost empty

BENGHAZI, Libya, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The Libyan opposition's financial and oil representative said Sunday the rebel is running out of cash to fund its war economy and some friend countries have not realized the urgency of the situation.

Ali Tarhouni, who is in charge of the finance for the opposition's National Transitional Council, said finding sources of income is really a tough challenge although he believes the opposition would finally win.

"I don't have any resources. Not a single dinar came in to the treasury on Sunday," the former economics lecturer at the University of Washington told a press conference, adding "we only exported one shipment (of oil) and got 150 million U.S. dollars for that. So far we've spent 408 million dollars on fuel. It's not a good number."

He told Xinhua that the top priority of his job now is to help the besieged areas and the refugees in Tunisia. However, the oil export, which was expected to be a major source of income, would not be resumed until the safety of the oil fields is ensured.

In a complaint that many countries that pledged aids actually do not understand the urgency of the situation, Tarhouni said, "we are besieged. People are dying every day. I'm not sure that this simple straight message is even reaching our friends."

But he singled out Qatar and Kuwait, saying he appreciated the aid from the Gulf friends and is expecting more help from them.

Asked whether the donated money would be used to spent on armament, Tarhouni said the mechanism has safety measures and transparency to make sure the assets would be used to buy fuel, food and medicine, not arms, "although I wish we have the money to buy arms."

Tarhouni has recently returned to the opposition bastion Benghazi from a trip to Europe and the United States seeking financial aids.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-05/30/c_13900131.htm.