Delegates from nearly 40 countries seeking an end to the Libyan conflict met in Istanbul today to discuss more financial aid and diplomatic support to Libya’s main opposition group as the revolutionaries struggled to defeat Gaddafi-loyal forces.
Senior U.S. officials have said the Obama administration is preparing to strengthen ties with the Transitional National Council (TNC) once it presents detailed plans for a democratic, transparent and inclusive government as it becomes increasingly clear that the Council will govern a post-Gaddafi Libya.
The council is expected to lay out plans for moving forward during the meeting of the Contact Group on Libya and seek more financial aid as well as diplomatic recognition. However, there was uncertainty whether the presentation would satisfy concerns that the initial post-Gaddafi regime represent the full spectrum of Libyan society: all regions, all tribes and all political parties.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen are also attending the meeting.
Revolutionary forces are trying to close in on the Libyan capital to overthrow Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi. But his forces reportedly repelled a coordinated attack by NATO forces and revolutionary forces against a strategic oil town, Brega, in the east of the country on
Thursday. The report could not be independently verified.
NATO is enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya and hitting government targets as part of a U.N. mandate to protect civilians. It is not, however, supposed to be the military arm of revolutionary ground forces, which have been trying to retake Brega for months.
The war in Libya appears to have hit a stalemate, despite a protracted NATO bombing campaign against Gaddafi’s forces. Revolutionary forces have liberate eastern Libya and pockets in the west, while Gaddafi is holding on to Tripoli and large stretches of western Libya.
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