The Libyan contact group of foreign ministers "affirmed that Gadhafi's regime has lost all legitimacy and he should leave and allow the Libyan people to decide their future," according to a final statement after Wednesday's meeting in Doha.
The group also decided to set up a "temporary financial mechanism" to aid the rebels fighting Moammar Gadhafi.
"Participants agreed that a Temporary Financial Mechanism could provide a method for the INC [interim national council] and international community to manage revenue to assist with short term financial requirements and structural needs in Libya."
The language of the statement indicated a stronger stance than that seen at the group's meeting two weeks ago, reflecting increased pressure by Britain and France, who are delivering most of the air strikes on Gadhafi's armor. They've said they want other NATO members to contribute more to the alliance's efforts in Libya to end the deadlock in the country's civil war.
The Americans are providing intelligence, logistical support and air-to-air refuelling, but have ceased to fly bombing raids since they handed over control of the mission to NATO.
Other NATO countries are either keeping their distance from the campaign or restricting their involvement to the enforcement of the no-fly zone.
Better coordination
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Wednesday the coalition force in Libya must keep up strong military pressure on Gadhafi's troops in order to convince him there is no way out.
Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh RasmussenBildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Anders Fogh Rasmussen defended NATO against criticismJuppe said coordination needed to improve between NATO and the Libyan opposition national council on the ground over targeted air strikes.
"The aim is very clear, Gadhafi must go but we need a political solution," Juppe said. "We must keep up a strong and robust military pressure to convince Gadhafi there is no way out."
He added that whether Gadhafi's departure should be made a precondition of negotiations for a political resolution was still a point for discussion.
But NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen rejected the French accusation that the alliance had been too slow to act in Libya.
High tempo
"I don't agree with [the description of] NATO being slow, we have kept a very high operational tempo," Rasmussen told reporters. "Our operations will end when there is no longer a threat to civilians on the ground."
Rasmussen added that a military operation was not enough to end the ongoing conflict.
"There can be no military solution. We need to set a political process in motion," he said.
Rasmussen said NATO had so far disabled a third of Gadhafi's military apparatus in more than 900 air raids.
Political solution
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle supported the demands by Libya's opposition National Council for funds to be redirected to the rebels.
"The money frozen internationally by sanctions belongs, in the case of state funds, to the Libyan people," he said.
He also called for a political solution to the crisis. "More and more countries - including those who were in favor of a military intervention - recognize that there will not be a military solution," Westerwelle said.
Franco-British meeting
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: France and Britain push for stronger action against Gadhafi Later on Wednesday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy met British Prime Minister David Cameron in Paris to discuss the situation in Libya. The two countries have so far been unsuccessful in persuading their NATO partners to step up attacks on Gadhafi's forces.
A French presidential source told journalists that, in a working dinner at the Elysee Palace, the two leaders had agreed to step up military pressure on Gadhafi.
The source said that it was agreed that "all means must be made available" in the fight against Gadhafi, who "stays determined to maintain his war effort against his own population."
Paris and London are increasingly frustrated that, in spite of three weeks of air strikes, it has still not been possible to tip the balance of the war in favor of the rebels. The allied efforts have also so far failed to end the shelling of the besieged rebel-held city of Misrata.
Author: Michael Knigge
Editor: Michael Lawton
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