(Reuters) Libya oil stuck in legal limbo as U.N. panel shunned

Western powers eager to help Libyan rebels sell oil from territories they control are ignoring the U.N. Security Council’s sanctions committee, leaving Libyan crude in legal limbo, envoys and analysts say.

Without definitive guidance on the legal status of Libyan oil from the politically divided U.N. sanctions committee, U.N. diplomats and traders say the oil could remain virtually untouchable as major trading players take care to avoid running afoul of the U.N. sanctions.

U.N. diplomats told Reuters that Security Council members eager to escalate the pressure on Gaddafi’s government — above all France and Britain — rushed through the two packages of sanctions and may not have foreseen how difficult the U.N. measures would make it to aid the rebels.

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Posted in * Economics, Politics, * International News & Commentary, Africa, Energy, Natural Resources, Foreign Relations, Libya