Wednesday, Sep 21, 2011
DUBAI (AFP)--Water and fuel supplies have been completely restored in the Libyan capital Tripoli after its fall to forces opposed to Moammar Gadhafi, Libya's United Arab Emirates ambassador said Wednesday.
Ambassador Aref Ali Nayed, who is also head of the Libya Stabilization Team, said basic utilities had been fully restored after weeks of severe shortages and outages.
"The liberation of Tripoli and the immediate aftermath has been a lot more peaceful and resulted in a lot less damage than anticipated," he told reporters in Dubai.
The team, set up in August to ensure a smooth transition of power in the aftermath of Tripoli's fall and provision of basic utilities and services, said it had officially handed over its duties to the ministries of the transitional government.
Nayed said that the team had succeeded in "restoring capacity" to the country's oil refineries, adding that he expected Libya to be "exporting oil very shortly."
Libya's pre-conflict oil production levels stood at 1.6 barrels of oil a day.
Speaking to reporters at the Libyan consulate in Dubai, members of the stabilization team said electricity, water, and fuel supplies have been fully restored.
The stabilization team was established by the National Transitional Council to ensure the provision of basic utilities and services after the liberation of the city.
The team had also acted as liaison with the United Nations and other international organizations delivering assistance in Libya and in securing the NTC's access to essential government funds.
Wafik Shater, the team's financial coordinator, said the government had sufficient funds for at least "three to six months".
"We are in better shape [financially] than we anticipated," said Shater. "Assets are still frozen...but we have enough funds for the next three months for sure, and possibly even six months."
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
21-09-11 1237GMT
