France to invite Arab countries to 'Friends of Libya' conference

French authorities said Thursday that Arab countries who are not members of the "Contact Group" on Libya would be invited to attend a major international conference to be held here September 1. The conference, dubbed "Friends of Libya," is being sponsored by France and Britain and aims to garner support for the reconstruction and transition in Libya, which has been wracked by conflict since six months. The conference is set to be attended by a number of Heads of State and other international leaders like UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon. Qatar and the UAE are currently prominent Arab members of the "Contact Group" but France says it wants to expand participation in the September conference to other Arab nations. "France and Britain will evidently invite, at the highest level, Arab countries directly concerned by the preceding phase, but also all those who want to participate in the reconstruction of Libya," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said. "The neighbouring countries to Libya, and in particular Egypt, will obviously have a major role to play to accompany the new Libya in its transition," the spokesman added. Separately, he said France was currently evaluating frozen Libyan assets in this country, assets he said would be "very important amounts," although he could not yet give details. Valero also stressed the need to move forward in the UN Security Council in getting Libyan assets unblocked so the opposition Libyan National Transition Council (NTC) would have sufficient financial resources to operate as it takes full control of the country.