The vote means that a senior council official will be able
to join world leaders and speak for Libya at next week's ministerial session of
the General Assembly and also participate in meetings.
The resolution was approved by a vote of 114-17 with 15
abstentions, revealing divisions in Africa and Latin America over who should
represent Libya.
The General Assembly's credentials committee had unanimously
recommended that the former rebels be seated. It's chairman, Panama's UN
Ambassador Pablo Antonio Thalassinos, said Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, who heads the
National Transitional Council, had sent a letter seeking to take over Libya's
seat.
The committee's recommendation faced opposition from a
left-leaning Latin America trade group ALBA whose members include Venezuela,
Nicaragua and Cuba among others.
Southern Africa's main regional bloc also opposed giving the
NTC credentials immediately, but it failed to win support to defer a vote.
On the ground, NTC forces suffered setback. Columns of NTC
fighters and vehicles withdrew chaotically from Bani Walid at dusk after hours
of fierce fighting ended inconclusively.
"We have received orders to retreat. We have been hit
by many rockets. We will come back later," NTC fighter Assad Al Hamuri
told Reuters as he fled the front line.
The atmosphere was frantic and shouting matches erupted
among the anti-Qaddafi fighters as their forces poured out of the city.
