(AFP) Iran "discreetly" provided humanitarian aid to Libyan rebels before the fall of Tripoli, Jam-e-Jam newspaper quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Sunday as saying. "We were in touch with many of the rebel groups in Libya before the fall of Gaddafi, and discreetly dispatched three or four food and medical consignments to Benghazi," Salehi said. "The head of the National Transitional Council (NTC), Mustafa Abdel Jalil, sent a letter of thanks to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for having been on their side and helping," he added. On Tuesday, Iran "congratulated the Muslim people of Libya" after rebels overran the capital Tripoli, but it has so far distanced itself from officially recognizing the NTC.
2011-08-30 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive