ISTANBUL (AFP) ? Top officials from major Western and regional powers met on Friday to discuss strategies to strengthen the Libyan opposition and force embattled strongman Moamer Kadhafi out.
The fourth meeting of the Libya contact group kicked off at an Ottoman palace in Istanbul in the wake of contacts between France and members of Kadhafi's regime that have raised the possibility of negotiating the colonel's departure.
With Kadhafi hanging on in Tripoli despite almost four months of NATO-led bombings, the rebels Thursday launched an offensive on the oil town of Brega, hoping they can dislodge loyalist troops and win a key strategic victory.
"The first point is to secure Kadhafi's departure. We have to organise this, to see ways to secure this," a European diplomat said ahead of the talks.
At the same time, the allies involved in the NATO-led campaign agree that military pressure should be maintained "now that the regime in Tripoli is about to collapse," he said on condition of anonymity.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, her counterparts William Hague of Britain, Alain Juppe of France and Franco Frattini of Italy as well as NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen were among officials from some 40 countries and international organisations attending the talks.
Mahmoud Jibril, de facto foreign minister of the Libyan rebels' National Transitional Council (NTC), was also present, with aid for the crash-strapped opposition -- both military and financial -- another priority on the agenda.
France, which has played a key role in rallying support for the rebels, said Tuesday a political solution to the conflict could be within reach.
"We are meeting envoys (of the regime) who say to us: look, 'Kadhafi is ready to go, let's talk about it'," Juppe said, adding that the contacts did not yet amount to serious negotiations.
The United States, however, has remained unconvinced and cautioned about contradictory signals from Tripoli.
"We are not persuaded yet that any of this is persuasive in terms of the red lines that we have laid out," an official in Clinton's entourage said, referring to an end to violence and Kadhafi's departure.
The UN envoy for Libya, Abdul Ilah al-Khatib, was to brief participants on his recent talks with both Tripoli and the rebels at their stronghold of Benghazi, a Turkish diplomat said.
Earlier this week Italy spoke of "maturing" ideas for a UN-mediated push for a political settlement without Kadhafi, involving a dialogue with members of the regime who are not the colonel's family or subject of international sanctions.
Another US official accompanying Clinton said the talks should help the Libyan rebels to prepare for power.
"It's about how we are going to collectively help to prepare the NTC to govern. It's just a fact that countries are starting to look past Kadhafi. He's going to go, and the meeting can be a useful place to take stock, prepare for that transition," the official said, requesting anonymity.
Diplomats have also reported discussions on financial assistance for the rebels, mainly an idea to give them loans while using frozen Libyan regime assets as a guarantee.
During a visit to Turkey last week, Jibril called on the international community to release funds frozen under sanctions against the regime and make them available to the opposition.
A Turkish official however said such a move appeared unlikely owing to legal hurdles.
The European diplomat said a settlement to the conflict should be based on a ceasefire, to be followed by free flow of humanitarian aid into Libya.
A provisional authority should name a president and govern the country until general elections are held and a new constitution is adopted, he added.
The contact group includes the countries participating in the NATO-led campaign targeting Kadhafi's regime, as well as other regional players.
Turkey invited Russia and China to join the meeting, but both countries, critical of the NATO-led campaign, turned down the offer.
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