— New money pipelines are opening up to help Libyan rebels determined to topple Muammar Gaddafi, with the United States saying it will move to free up part of the $30 billion it has frozen in Libyan assets and a score of nations pledging Thursday to start a new fund to supply civilians with food, medicine and even paychecks.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s announcement marked the first time Washington has indicated it would release some of the frozen Gaddafi funds to help the rebels, who say they need up to $3 billion for military salaries, food, medicine and other basic supplies.
Clinton said the Obama administration, working with Congress, wants “to tap some portion of those assets owned by Gaddafi and the Libyan government in the United States, so we can make those funds available to help the Libyan people.”
It will be “an international fund in which nations can make their contributions in a transparent way,” British Foreign Secretary William Hague said.
Britain has already provided $21.5 million and does not plan to offer direct funding to the rebels beyond that aid and non-lethal equipment — satellite phones and body armor — it has already offered.
Clinton said the U.S. supported the fund but it was not immediately clear if the unfrozen money would be put into that pot or be spent directly by Washington.
Mahmoud Jibril, head of the opposition’s Transitional National Council, welcomed the financial pledges.
“We are more than satisfied,” he told reporters. Jibril said he briefed the conference for the first time on a “road map” for the future of Libya, including plans for an interim government, the drafting of a constitution and parliamentary and presidential elections.
