Rome talks to focus on Libyan rebel aid

PanARMENIAN.Net - May 5 international talks on Libya in Rome promise to be all about the money as global powers seek ways of channeling credit to Libya's rebels, who are asking for up to three billion dollars.

The plan is to set up a type of "trust fund... under international control" that would aid Libya's opposition, said Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, who will be co-chairing the talks with Qatar starting at 0830 GMT, according to AFP.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, British Foreign Secretary William Hague and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe are all expected to attend the meeting, with 22 countries and six international organizations represented.

An Italian foreign ministry spokesman said the fund plan would be "an important breakthrough" that would boost the Transitional National Council (TNC), the governing body in eastern Libya fighting Moamer Kadhafi's regime.

The TNC will be represented in Rome by its prime minister, Mahmud Jibril.

The International Contact Group meeting, which includes all the countries participating in a NATO-led campaign in Libya, is taking place amid a stalemate in a conflict that has already killed 10,000 people according to rebels.