Rebels to benefit from up to $30bn of Libyan state funds

CASH-STRAPPED Libyan rebels won a financial lifeline potentially worth billions of dollars from the United States and other allies yesterday, as forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi pounded a rebel town in the west.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington would seek to unlock some of the $30 billion (€21bn) of Libyan state funds frozen in the United States to help the rebel movement.

Italy, host of a meeting in Rome of the “Contact Group” on Libya, said a temporary special fund would be set up by allied nations to channel cash to the rebel administration in its eastern Libyan stronghold of Benghazi.