US may fund rebels with frozen Libyan assets, says Clinton

The United States is trying to free up some of the more than $30bn (€20.5bn) it has frozen in Libyan assets so it can support the rebels, US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton told a conference today.

Twenty-two nations and international organisations were meeting in Rome to work out how to help the Libyan rebels, who say they need up to $3bn (2.05bn) in the coming months for military salaries, food, medicine and other basic supplies.

Clinton said the Obama administration, working with Congress, wants "to tap some portion of those assets owned by Gaddafi and the Libyan government in the United States, so we can make those funds available to help the Libyan people."

The US also has already pledged $53m (€36.2m) in humanitarian aid and authorised up to $25m (€17.08m) in non-lethal assistance to the rebels, including medical supplies, boots, tents, rations and personal protective gear.

The first shipment is set to arrive in the western, rebel-held city of Benghazi in the coming days.

Clinton declared that ousting Gaddafi was the best way to protect Libya's people.

"We have made it abundantly clear that the best way to protect civilians is for Gaddafi to cease his ruthless, brutal attack on civilians from the west to the east, to withdraw from the cities that he is sieging and attacking and to leave power," Clinton said. "This is the outcome we are seeking."

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, co-host of the conference, said nations have already pledged $250m (€170.8m) in humanitarian aid for Libyan civilians "thanks to the generosity of many countries."

The Contact Group on Libya also agreed to establish an internationally monitored fund that the rebels can access to provide basic services to the Libyan people.

It will be "an international fund in which nations can make their contributions in a transparent way," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said. Britain has so far provided £13m (€8.88m).

But Britain said it did not plan to offer direct funding to Libya's rebels beyond the aid money and non-lethal equipment - including satellite phones and body armour - that it has already pledged.

Clinton said the world must keep isolating the Gaddafi regime, including imposing travel bans on top officials, suspending Libyan embassies and sending envoys to work with the opposition's Transitional National Council.

"Isolating Gaddafi means pulling the plug on his propaganda and incitements to violence," she said.

The meeting also included the Nato chief, the Arab League, and the leader of Libya's opposition council, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, who used to be Gaddafi's justice minister.

Italy, conference co-host Qatar, and France have given diplomatic recognition to the rebels.

Frattini opened the four-hour closed session with a call for other nations to do so as well.

Since the uprising against Gaddafi broke out in mid-February, the two sides have largely been locked in a stalemate.

The rebels have also asked for weapons to be able to defend themselves from Gaddafi's better-equipped forces.

British officials said the Rome meeting would also seek to impose new restrictions on arms smuggling and mercenaries in Libya, call for renewed action to cut off Libya's state television service and try to restrict Gadhafi's exports of crude oil and his ability to import refined oil products.