Beijing denies arms sales to Gaddafi's men

Beijing denied it had any contact with Moammar Gadhafi's arms buyers during their July trip to China, although private companies met them, a government official said. "The Gadhafi government sent personnel to China without the knowledge of the Chinese government and who engaged in contact with a handful of people from the companies concerned," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said during a daily news briefing. Her comments come after a report in the Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper said three state-run Chinese arms firms offered to sell to Gadhafi's group up to $200 million worth of weapons. The Gadhafi groups were in Beijing in mid-July, the Globe and Mail said. The information was found in documents scattered around the looted Tripoli home of Col. Gadhafi, who remains on the run from rebel forces after they captured Libya's capital. The Globe and Mail said the weapons on offer included anti-tank missiles and rocket launchers and the goods, if purchased, could have been shipped to Libya through neighboring Algeria or South Africa. The documents didn't confirm delivery of any weapons but Yu said no deals were signed and no arms were shipped. "The Chinese companies did not sign arms trade contracts and nor did they export military items to Libya," she said. Despite no deals being done, the Globe's revelations and subsequent denials of any completed sales is an embarrassment for the Chinese government. As the rebels beat back Gadhafi forces, Beijing is having to side with NATO and other Western countries as more and more recognize the rebels as legitimate rulers after the 42 years of dictatorship. At stake is access to Libya's oil resources. Rebel leaders have said they are more inclined to work with businesses of countries that supported their armed struggle. China has yet to recognize the new regime, even though some of its leaders visited Beijing as far back as June, only a month before Gadhafi's arms men were in the Chinese capital. Recently, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of Libya's National Transitional Council -- the effective rebel government -- accused China of blocking the release of frozen Libyan assets. Some countries filed an application to the U.N. Security Council's Sanctions Committee to release the frozen assets of the Libyan government. In a more conciliatory note, Yu said China has "no difficulty in principle" with the release of Libya's frozen assets by Western nations. "But in the spirit of being responsible to the Libyan people, China and some other members of the United Nations Security Council maintain that the use of assets and supervision mechanism be further specified," Yu said, adding China had been in touch with both sides in Libya during the crisis and played a positive part in promoting dialogue and seeking peace.