At the meeting, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that Colonel Qaddafi?s government no longer had any legitimacy, and that the United States would join more than 30 countries in extending diplomatic recognition to the main opposition group, known as the Transitional National Council.
?We will help the T.N.C. sustain its commitment to the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national unity of Libya, and we will look to it to remain steadfast in its commitment to human rights and fundamental freedoms,? Mrs. Clinton said.
In an audio speech carried on Libyan television, Colonel Qaddafi appeared as determined as ever to fight on, and dismissed the recognition of the rebel government by the leading powers.
?Trample on those recognitions, trample on them under your feet,? he told thousands of supporters in the coastal city of Zlitan, who had gathered for a rally broadcast on state tv, Reuters reported. ?They are worthless,? he said.
In the early stages of the war, Western nations were reluctant to extend recognition to the rebels, not knowing who they were and worrying about their possible ties to Al Qaeda and other militant groups. Over the months, though, those fears have been assuaged, and most nations are lined up behind the transitional government.
The step allows the United States and other countries to turn over to the rebel group some of the Libyan financial assets that have been frozen in foreign banks, to help underwrite its efforts to oust Colonel Qaddafi and to administer the part of the country that the rebels control.
?We have a lot of frozen funds around the world, and now it would be up the country to release a certain percent under certain conditions,? said Mahmoud Shammam, a rebel spokesman. ?We assured them in many ways that we are heading towards a democratic state and with the support of allies, friends we would make that happen.?
Italy?s foreign minister, Franco Frattini, said that Italy would unfreeze some $140 million of Libyan assets and give them to the rebels, with more than $500 million to follow.
Other nations, like France and the United States, will now find it easier to hand over frozen Libyan assets to the rebels. The United States has more than $30 billion in frozen Qaddafi-government assets.
The Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said that Turkey saw ?merit in the suggestion for the release of $3 billion from the frozen assets of Libya under U.N. supervision.? He suggested opening lines of credit to the rebels to meet their ?urgent need for cash? before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Turkey, he said, had already started a $200-million credit line.
Mr. Davutoglu told reporters Thursday night that Colonel Qaddafi culd remain in Libya if an agreement is reached, according to the Turkish Daily News.
In the rebel held city of Zintan, on the high plateau of the mountains in Libya?s west, where local men have pushed the Qaddafi militatry back on several fronts, a group of elderly men sat in the shade beside the main mosque.
They were buoyed by the news from Istanbul, which all of them had heard.
?The recognition of America has opened a door for us from Africa to the world,? said one of them, Mohammed el-Judaya.
Whatever the geopolitics, however, the men made clear they had ongoing practical concerns. Much of the mountainous food is short of food, fuel and water, phone service is mostly cut off and the Qaddafi forces are not far away. The war goes, with life stalled and hardships ahead.
?We have no money for Ramadan,? said Muftah Benghazi. ?This is difficult for us.?
Even with a growing list of international allies, the rebels have made only halting progress in wresting control of the country from Colonel Qaddafi?s forces. On Wednesday, the British foreign secretary, William Hague, told Reuters that NATO was intensifying its military campaign in Libya.
Yet, with a ?no-boots-on-the-ground policy? in Libya, the Western nations have found it hard to dislodge Colonel Qaddafi from power, as his forces have dug in around the capital, Tripoli, and other strategic cities where he retains at least some support among the civilian population.


