PARIS ? Libyan rebels on the verge of driving leader Moammar Gadhafi from power must secure weapons caches amassed by his regime and ensure they are not used to threaten the country's neighbors, the region or beyond, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday. She also said the fight against the still-defiant Gadhafi must continue.
"We must see our military mission through to its conclusion," she said of the NATO operation to protect civilians that began in March. "Coalition military operations should continue as long as civilians remain under threat of attack."
Clinton made the comments at an international conference in Paris to rally financial and other support for the rebels and the government they are trying to install.
The session fell on the 42nd anniversary of the coup in which Gadhafi seized power. He warned from hiding Thursday that tribes loyal to him were well-armed and preparing for battle, hours after rebels hoping for a peaceful surrender extended the deadline for loyalist forces to give up in the longtime Libyan leader's hometown.
Gadhafi's audio statement, broadcast by Syrian-based Al-Rai TV, came as the rebels said they were closing in on the former dictator.
"We won't surrender again; we are not women, we will keep fighting," Gadhafi said. His voice was recognizable, and Al-Rai has previously broadcast several statements by Gadhafi and his sons.
Clinton said Gadhafi and his remaining loyalists should concede defeat for the sake of the Libyan people and stressed it was imperative that Libya's new leaders ensure that Gadhafi-era stockpiles, including of mustard agent and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft devices, are safe.
She said she was encouraged by the response she got in her meetings Thursday with Libyan opposition leaders.
"They still have a huge hill to climb," she said. "But they are working with the international community to secure both chemical weapons stockpiles as well as conventional weapons. They are taking action against extremism wherever the find it."
Clinton also called on the opposition to protect the rights of all Libyans, particularly women and minorities, as it moves to consolidate its authority. She also urged other nations to assist opposition efforts to forge a democratic transition after four decades of autocratic rule. Some 60 governments and 10 international organizations sent representatives to the conference.
Clinton appealed for other countries to follow the lead of the U.S. and Europe by recognizing the opposition National Transitional Council as the Libya's legitimate government and give it the Libyan seat at the annual United Nations General Assembly session later this month. The U.N. should also authorize a mission to Libya should the rebels ask for one, she said.
"We want what they want: more recognition," she told reporters. Russia, long a holdout, recognized the NTC earlier Thursday. Clinton said the U.N. should allow countries to release tens of billions of dollars in frozen Gadhafi regime assets to the NTC and said the U.S. has completed the transfer of $700 million in such assets on behalf of the rebels.
That amount is slightly less than half of the $1.5 billion in frozen assets that the U.S. won agreement from the U.N. to release last week. Clinton said the remainder would be released soon. The $1.5 billion represents about half of the liquid assets the Gadhafi regime has had frozen in the United States. The rest of the more than $30 billion in frozen assets is in real estate and other non-cash holdings.
Libya's ambassador to the U.S., Ali Aujlai, thanked the U.S. on behalf of the NTC and said the money would go for food, medicine and humanitarian relief.
"Notably, for the first time in over four decades, the wealth of our nation's resources will be used for the benefit of all of the Libyan people," he said.
European nations are seeking the release of billions more in frozen assets that they hold.
Clinton cautioned that "winning a war offers no guarantee of winning the peace that follows" and said the opposition needed to follow through on commitments to uphold international standards and usher in an era of inclusive, transparent and sustainable democracy.
Once the fight to oust Gadhafi is over, she said the international community should help the rebels demobilize and integrate their fighters into a single security force.
And she said the United States wanted to help. As a first step, Clinton announced that a U.S. team was heading to Tripoli to evaluate the American embassy and see what repairs and work is need to re-establish the U.S. diplomatic presence in the city. The Italians returned to their embassy in Libya's capital on Thursday.
In a private meeting with Council leaders Mustafa Abdul-Jalil and Mahmoud Jibril, Clinton said the safety of the Gadhafi weapons stockpiles was "an urgent security priority facing Libya and the broader region," according to a senior U.S. official present for the discussion. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the closed-door diplomatic exchange.
In the private session, Clinton also underscored the points in her public remarks to the conference: that the NTC must follow through on commitments to upholding the rule of law, human rights and democracy, the official said. She said the council must be transparent about its use of the returned frozen assets and should seek international help particularly in the democratic transition.
"What happens in the coming days will be critical and the international community has to help the Libyan people get it right," Clinton told reporters. Yet she said Thursday's conference "validated the confidence that all of the nations around the table have placed" in the Libyan opposition council.
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