U.S. Stops Short Of Full Recognition Of Libya Rebels

Mahmud Jibril, the president of Libya's opposition Transitional National Council, in Washington on May 12

The United States has stopped short of full diplomatic recognition of Libya's rebel movement, but the White House said it was a "legitimate and credible interlocutor."

Mahmud Jibril, the No.2 in the rebels' Transitional National Council (TNC), met on May 13 at the White House with President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Tom Donilon.

Donilon said the recognition was discussed during the meetings.

"Certainly it was discussed," U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. "Look, we believe that the TNC remains a credible and legitimate interlocutor of the Libyan people, and I would just say that the question of recognition is one of the many policy issues that are still under review."

Meanwhile, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, says he will seek arrest warrants on May 16 against three senior Libyan officials "for crimes against humanity."

Moreno-Ocampo has not released the names of the suspects.

compiled from agency reports