Britain expelled the remaining staff of the Libyan embassy as it granted political recognition to the Libyan opposition in the latest attempt to strike a telling blow against Col Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

Britain expelled the remaining staff of the Libyan embassy as it granted political recognition to the Libyan opposition in the latest attempt to strike a telling blow against Col Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

Amid increasingly frantic diplomatic moves five months into a bombing campaign against the Libyan dictatorship, William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, said Britain could free up frozen funds for the Libyan opposition.
He said the opposition National Transitional Council (NTC) would be invited to send a diplomatic envoy to take over the Libyan People’s Bureau in Knightsbridge.
"The Prime Minister and I have decided that the United Kingdom recognises and will deal with the National Transitional Council as the sole governmental authority in Libya," Mr Hague said.
"In line with that decision we summoned the Libyan chargé d’affaires to the Foreign Office today and informed him that he and the other regime diplomats must leave the UK.
"We no longer recognise them as representatives of the Libyan government." The announcement added to concerns that the Government was groping for measures after the failure to oust Col Gaddafi despite five months of Nato attacks.