The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg on Wednesday formally recognised the Libyan rebel council based in Benghazi as the legitimate representative of Libyans.

‘This decision shows that we have great trust in the way in which [Mahmoud] Jibril is leading the council. It deserves our support,’ Dutch foreign minister Uri Rosenthal said.
According to the Telegraaf, the Netherlands has been consistently opposed to recognising the council, because the country only recognises states, not governments.
‘We want to announce that we want to further deepen our relations with the TNC [rebel council] and we officially consider it as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people in the transitional period,’ news agency Reuters quoted Belgian foreign minister Steven Vanackere as saying.