Clinton to meet Libyan rebels - Video
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, is to meet with leaders of Libya's opposition council during a trip to the Middle East next week, she has told US lawmakers. Clinton's statement of intent comes as France on Thursday became the first major European country to recognise Libya's opposition National Council based in Benghazi as the country's legitimate representative. In a separate joint statement with the United Kingdom, France also called for the Gaddafi "clique" to leave office.
"We are reaching out to the opposition inside and outside of Libya," [Clinton said while announcing her trip to Tunisia and Egypt.] "I will be meeting with some of those figures, both in the United States and when I travel next week, to discuss what more the United States and others can do," [she said].
The opposition council is led by Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the former justice minister, who resigned soon after the Libyan government began a violent crackdown on protesters in February. Earlier, Gene Cretz, the US Ambassador to Libya, met with opponents of the government led by Muammar Gaddafi.