TRIPOLI - Libya's government warned on Wednesday it would sue any international company which sealed energy deals with the rebels who control some of the country's oil infrastructure, according to stat-run JANA news agency.

"The National Oil Corporation.. is the only entity authorized by law to deal with external parties. Because of the strategic importance of these goods --oil and gas-- at the global level, no country can leave their management to armed gangs," the government said in a statement carried by JANA news agency.

"The Libyan state will sue any party that concludes deals regarding Libyan oil with parties other than the National Oil Corporation," added the statement.

Qatar, the first Arab country to recognize the Libyan opposition Interim Transitional National Council, had agreed to market crude oil produced from eastern fields no longer under the control of embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

"The recognition comes from a conviction that the council has become, practically, a representative of Libya and its brotherly people," the Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a statement.