Contact group looking for ways to fund Libyan rebels

International donors to Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) will discuss a variety of options to send funds to cash-strapped rebels in the North African country during a meeting in Istanbul starting tomorrow. "Since right now for legal reasons it's not possible to release the frozen assets [officially belonging to the Libyan regime], an alternative plan to send monetary aid in return for collecting that amount from the frozen bank accounts in the future will be discussed during the meeting," said a senior Turkish diplomat yesterday. One of the key issues facing members of the International Contact Group on Libya this week is how to legally free up billions of dollars frozen in foreign bank accounts owned by the government of Libyan leader Col. Muammer Gadhafi. During a visit to Ankara last week, Mahmud Jibril, a senior member of the Libyan rebel council in Benghazi, called on the international community to release Libyan funds frozen under sanctions against Gadhafi's regime and make them available to the opposition so that it can address the urgent needs of the people.