DOHA: World powers rallied behind Libyan rebels as they guested a global stage for a first time Wednesday, with Italy and Qatar saying they need arms to defend themselves and Britain urging regional aid.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned meanwhile, as the Libya contact group meeting kicked off in Doha, that as many as 3.6 million people, or more than half of Libya’s population, could need humanitarian assistance.
Ban, addressing the gathering, also urged the international community to "speak with one voice," on Libya, as a rift appeared to be opening between EU partners, with Belgium expressing opposition to arming the rebels and Germany insisting there could be "no military solution."
"The discussion about arming the rebels is definitely on the table … to defend themselves," Italy’s Maurizio Massari said ahead of the meeting.
"The UN resolution … does not forbid arming" the rebels fighting Libyan leader Moamer Qaddafi’s forces, he told reporters, while adding that a decision was unlikely to be taken at the meeting in the Qatari capital.
"We need to provide the rebels all possible defensive means," he said, singling out communication and intelligence equipment.
Qatar’s crown prince, also addressing the gathering of some 20 countries and international organizations, said the Libyan people must be supplied with the means to defend themselves.
"The main aim of our meeting is to help the Libyan people decide their own fate… and to help the Libyan people defend themselves so they can decide on their future," said Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
However, Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere said: "The UN resolution speaks about protecting civilians, not arming them."
And German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said: "We will not see a military solution" in Libya, but stressed that Libyan leader Moamer Qaddafi had to step down. "Germany is ready to support humanitarian action for the people of Libya."
NATO chief Anders Fogh Rassmussen agreed that a political settlement was the only solution.
"We hope this meeting can facilitate a political solution for the problem in Libya, and obviously there is no military solution so we have to initiate a political process," he said.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague was upbeat about the meeting and said it would "strengthen" the pressure on Qaddafi to step down.
"It is impossible for anyone to see a viable future for Libya with Colonel Qaddafi in power," Hague told reporters ahead of the meeting.
"Pressure for Qaddafi to go will increase at the meeting today. It will strengthen, not weaken," he said.
Hague also suggested that the meeting would look at setting up funding streams from Gulf states to help maintain services in the rebel-held east.
"I hope we can agree to set up a temporary financial mechanism in the region for the benefit of the Interim National Council-controlled areas of Libya," he said, referring to the rebels’ shadow government.
Hague said Britain also hoped the meeting would agree "how best to plan the stabilization" of Libya.
"I hope we will agree to endorse the principles set out by the Interim National Council for a political process leading to a democratic Libya," he said.
"We should also move forward quickly to ensure that nations wishing to support the Interim National Council in meeting its public sector tasks do so in a transparent manner," Hague added.
Members of the Transitional National Council were to address the contact group later Wednesday as an alternative voice for Libya’s people.
In London on March 29, the TNC was not permitted to attend the plenary session of an international ministerial conference on the crisis, although its envoys held bilateral talks with several world powers on the sidelines.
Since London, with Qaddafi continuing to defy NATO air strikes, the opposition council has gained support and recognition, notably from France, Italy and Qatar.
UN chief Ban painted a bleak picture of the impact of the fighting in Libya, which erupted when Qaddafi’s forces began violently suppressing a popular uprising that began on February 15 against his four-decade iron-clad rule.
"Under our worst-case scenario, as many as 3.6 million people could eventually require humanitarian assistance" in Libya, which has a population of six million, Ban told delegates before the session went behind closed doors.
"The humanitarian situation continues to worsen," he said.
"Approximately 490,000 people — almost half a million people — have left the country since the crisis began," Ban said, quoting figures from the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR.
"On average, 2,700 people cross to Tunisia and Egypt every day.
Roughly 330,000 people have been internally displaced," the UN secretary general told the first meeting of the contact group.
"We must mobilize all means at our disposal, including military, to get aid to those who need it," he said, while stressing that current aid efforts were insufficient.
On the eve of the Doha meeting, a spokesman for the rebel TNC said it would accept nothing short of the removal of Qaddafi and his sons from the country.
