Clinton Urges Preparation For A Post-Gadhafi Libya

MELISSA BLOCK, host: The United States and its allies are preparing for a post-Gadhafi Libya. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the Libyan leader's days are numbered. She met today with diplomats from more than 20 nations in Abu Dhabi( 阿拉伯联合酋长国首都, 阿布扎比市) to discuss an endgame in Libya and to boost support for the Libyan opposition.

NPR's Michele Kelemen was there.

MICHELE KELEMEN: The man who runs the Libyan rebel finances paced the halls anxiously as U.S., European and Arab officials met in the vast and opulent(华丽的，辉煌的) Emirates Palace Hotel. They've been trying to figure out ways to funnel money to the Transitional National Council, and Ali Tarhouni says he's been hearing only promises of help for months.

Mr. ALI TARHOUNI (Finance Minister, Transitional National County): Our people are dying. We are in a war, and it's been almost four months now, and nothing materialized so far.

KELEMEN: It's beyond frustrating, Tarhouni said.

Mr. TARHOUNI: We are a proud people, and I'm not begging. This is our money that we're asking for.

KELEMEN: Diplomats acknowledge that there have been lots of legal problems getting some of the frozen Libyan assets to the rebels to help them run their government in Benghazi. Tarhouni says he'd like loans, using frozen assets as collateral. The Transitional National Council promised, in writing, that any loans will be paid back by a future Libyan government.

And the host of the meeting, Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed, said a new financial mechanism is finally up and running for some aid to start flowing.

Mr. ABDULLAH BIN ZAYED (Foreign Minister, United Arab Emirates): What we have taken today in the UAE is a step forward. People could argue other ways that we haven't done enough, but I think time will show that we are doing the right thing at the right time.

KELEMEN: Qatar and Kuwait promised to pitch in nearly $300 million, a mix of loans and gifts. Italy is also offering several hundred million dollars in loans to help the Transitional National Council, and Turkey said it would give $100 million. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the U.S. and other coalition partners are gaining more confidence in the rebel government, the TNC.

Secretary HILLARY CLINTON (Department of State): We have seen a great deal of improvement in the efforts of the TNC. We are obviously doing all we can to assist them in better organizing themselves and building those institutions that any state needs. But they know and we know that there is a long road ahead.

KELEMEN: But they may not have much time. Clinton believes there's growing momentum against Moammar Gadhafi's regime. Australia's Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said that was the general sense in the room at the conference in Abu Dhabi.

Mr. KEVIN RUDD (Foreign Minister, Australia): There have been multiple feelers from the Gadhafi regime to various members of the international community coming every other day. In our view, collectively, this represents growing desperation on the part of the regime as we believe it enters its end period.

KELEMEN: NATO has stepped up（增加）bombing raids in Tripoli, and Secretary Clinton says there's increasing military, financial and diplomatic pressure on Gadhafi, with even Russia and China reaching out now to the rebels.

Sec. CLINTON: We have very good reason to believe that time is on our side so long as we sustain the pressure.

KELEMEN: Asked about exile options for Gadhafi, Clinton would only say there are numerous and continuing discussions but no clear way forward yet. The so-called contact group will meet next in Istanbul in July.

Libya was not the only issue on Clinton's agenda in Abu Dhabi. She also consulted Gulf countries about the conflict in Yemen. President Ali Abdullah Saleh was wounded in an explosion last week and is still getting medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. The U.S., along with other Gulf states, are trying, Clinton said, to promote a peaceful and orderly transition. She wouldn't comment on reports that the U.S. has stepped up drone attacks against a terrorist group based there.

Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Abu Dhabi.