Obama recognizes rebel government in Libya

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that the Obama administration has decided to formally recognize Libya's main opposition group as the country's legitimate government. The move gives foes of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi a major financial and credibility boost.

Clinton announced at an international conference on Libya in Istanbul that Washington accepts the Transitional National Council as the legitimate governing authority of the Libyan people.

Diplomatic recognition of the council means that the U.S. will be able to fund the opposition with some of the more than $30 billion in Gahdafi-regime assets that are frozen in American banks.

More than 30 countries will recognize the Libyan opposition as the "legitimate authority of Libya," officials said.

In Libya, Gadhafi rejected the international recognition of the rebels and vowed never to surrender.

In an audio broadcast to thousands of supporters in the town of Zlitan, Gadhafi said "the Libyan people will persevere. They will never give up."

As it becomes increasingly clear that the Transitional National Council will govern a post-Gadhafi Libya, senior U.S. officials have said the Obama administration was preparing to strengthen ties once it presents detailed plans for a democratic and inclusive government.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been pledged to a special financial mechanism, but tens of millions in frozen Gadhafi regime assets in the United States and elsewhere are still inaccessible to rebels because of the lack of recognition and UN sanctions.

Meanwhile, rebels in Libya's east pulled back yesterday after a failed advance on an oil town.

The front lines in the Libyan civil war have largely stagnated since a popular uprising seeking to oust Gadhafi broke out in February.

Rebels control much of the country's east and pockets in the west. Gadhafi controls the rest from his stronghold in the capital Tripoli.

Thursday's rebel attack on Brega, a key oil installation and long a rebel goal, may have been an attempt to strengthen the rebels' position ahead of the meeting on Libya's future.