Libya ‘rebels’ to receive huge cash infusion
Source: Washington Post
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Western and Middle Eastern countries began opening the aid spigots Thursday for Libya’s beleaguered rebels, approving measures that will immediately send at least $1 billion to the opposition and promising much larger sums in the weeks ahead.
The cash infusion came as the Obama administration took a step toward officially recognizing Libya’s main rebel group, with the State Department declaring the Transitional National Council (TNC) “the legitimate interlocutor” for the Libyan people, even as Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi clung to power.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, addressing a meeting of representatives from nearly three dozen countries and international organizations supporting the rebels, vowed to gradually increase economic and military pressure on Gaddafi until he relents, clearing the way for a democratically elected Libyan government.
“Gaddafi must know that he cannot wait us out,” Clinton told a gathering of diplomats at the Libyan Contact Group meeting in Abu Dhabi. “There is no going back to the way things were. He must go, and the transition to a unified, democratic Libya must begin.”
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