The United States Recognizes the NTC in Libya

Source: The New York Times

STANBUL, Turkey — The United States formally recognized the rebel leadership in Libya as the country’s legitimate government on Friday, news agencies reported. The move ratcheted up the diplomatic pressure on Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi amid a continuing NATO-led bombing campaign to push him from power.

Speaking at an international gathering here to discuss the five-month-old conflict in Libya, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced that the United States would join more than 30 countries in extending diplomatic recognition to the main opposition group, known as the Transitional National Council, The Associated Press reported.

“The United States views the Qaddafi regime as no longer having any legitimate authority in Libya,” Mrs. Clinton said. “And so I am announcing today that, until an interim authority is in place, the United States will recognize the T.N.C. as the legitimate governing authority for Libya, and we will deal with it on that basis.”

The step allows the United States and other countries to turn over to the rebel group some of the Libyan funds that have been frozen in foreign banks, to finance its efforts to oust Colonel Qaddafi and to administer the part of the country that the rebels control.

“We have a lot of frozen funds around the world, and now it would be up the country to release a certain percent under certain conditions,” said Mahmoud Shammar, a rebel spokesman. “We assured them in many ways that we are heading towards a democratic state and with the support of allies, friends we would make that happen.”

Even with a growing list of international allies, the rebels have made only halting progress in wresting control of the country from Colonel Qaddafi’s forces. On Wednesday, the British foreign secretary, William Hague, told Reuters that NATO was intensifying its military campaign in Libya.

With a “no-boots-on-the-ground policy” in Libya, the Obama administration is hoping that the rebels will be able to topple the Qaddafi government, assisted by airstrikes on Tripoli, the capital, and other Qaddafi strongholds. Several other countries, including Britain and France, have also sent arms, ammunition and other military supplies to the rebels.

At the meeting in Turkey, representatives of international organizations, including the Arab League, the European Union and the African Union, reiterated their support for the opposition, which is based in Benghazi in the east, and for a transition of power in Libya.

In a background briefing ahead of Friday’s meeting, a senior State Department official said that the “NATO operations continue at a very high pace,” with 5,000 air sorties since March, and that “we continue to believe that time is on our side.”

Sebnem Arsu reported from Istanbul, and J. David Goodman from New York.