ZIMBABWE is set to end its boycott of the Libyan rebels after the African Union moved to recognise the National Transitional Council (NTC) which replaced Muammar Gaddafi’s regime following an armed insurgency.

The African Union (AU) recognised the de facto government on Tuesday after receiving guarantees, among them assurances on the safety of black migrant workers as well as a pledge to “give priority to national unity and to bring together all Libyan stakeholders, without any exception,” to rebuild the country.

In its statement issued following a meeting of its five-nation Ad Hoc Committee on Libya, the AU said the interim Libyan government had also reaffirmed its commitment to the African continent.

Zimbabwe had taken the stance that it would be guided by the SADC and AU positions. Support for the NTC could now be automatic following the AU move.

President Robert Mugabe’s government expelled Libya's envoy to Harare, Taher Elmagrahi, at the end of August when he announced he had defected to the NTC. Ministers said the envoy “represented no-one” after denouncing Gaddafi, who had signed his accreditation papers.

Zimbabwe, along with South Africa, had long expressed reservations about the NATO-led military bombardment of Libya in aid of the rebels which began in mid-March and continues today.

President Mugabe dismissed the uprising in the country as a false revolution engineered Western powers keen to control the North African country's oil.

“We do not agree with the form of government that was in Libya," President Mugabe said recently. "We looked forward to it reforming its system in its own way, not in the way they (the West) desire."

Meanwhile, South Africa, whose President Jacob Zuma sits on the AU Ad Hoc Committee on Libya, announced Tuesday that it would now recognise the NTC.

Although the NTC controls most of the country including the capital, Tripoli, fighting continues in the towns of Bani Walid and Colonel Gaddafi's birthplace, Sirte, where pro-Gaddafi fighters are mounting fierce resistance.

Anti-Gaddafi forces launched an offensive on Bani Walid, 140km south-east of Tripoli, late last week, but were forced to retreat under heavy fire both times. Heavy clashes have continued since then.

By Special correspondent