On Friday, in a Libya Contact Group meeting in Turkey, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the United States had reached a deal to recognize the Libyan rebels as the legitimate government of the war-torn nation, another blow to the Qaddafi regime, The Washington Post reported. From her statement:

"I am announcing today that, until an interim authority is in place, the United States will recognize the TNC as the legitimate governing authority for Libya, and we will deal with it on that basis," Clinton said, using the acronym for the rebels’ governing Transitional National Council.

The Associated Press also reported this morning that "More than 30 countries recognized the Libyan opposition as the 'legitimate authority of Libya' Friday, a move that would keep up the military pressure on Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi and potentially free up cash the rebels urgently need." That "cash" includes some of the $30 billion in assets, as The Post reports, that were previously frozen by the U.S. government.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at ehayden at nationaljournal dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Erik Hayden