World for Libya
World For Libya is a UK registered charity incorporated on 14 Jun 2011 to "relieve sickness and to promote and project good health through provision of medical aid, medical infrastructure and logistics and the provision of training to doctors and other healthcare professionals and ancilliary staff that are needed to ensure a broad and comprehensive health care system, education for Libyans and the relief of financial hardship for refugees and other displaced Libyans."[1].
Relationship With the Libyan Rebels
According to the UK charity commission, "an organisation cannot be a charity if it has a 'political purpose'."[2] As a UK charity, World For Libya is therefore explicitly prohibited from "furthering the interests of a particular political party" or from "securing or opposing any change in the law, whether in the UK or overseas".[2]
Logo
The charity's logo clearly bears a remarkable similarity to the Libyan flag reinstated by the Libyan rebels, an indication that the charity aligned itself with their aims.
Relationship to Hand in Hand for Syria
- Full article: Hand in Hand for Syria
- Full article: Hand in Hand for Syria
World For Libya has no known acknowledged connection to Hand In Hand For Syria, a UK charity registered 8 months later. However, the parallels are striking:- both sporting a logo indicative of a political affiliation to a rebel group. Moreover, both have been assisted by film maker and medic Dr Saleyha Ahsan. She suggests that this is a coincidence: "It was by some bizarre fluke that returning home from that first short trip that I sat next to Nader Elhamessi, a Libyan, a Londoner for many years and one of the founders of the aid organization World for Libya"[3]
