Rome: Italy on Monday recognised Libya's opposition interim national council as its sole interlocutor and promised sweeping economic reconstruction measures for rebel-held eastern Libya.
"Italy has decided to recognise the council," Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said after talks with council foreign affairs chief Ali Al Esawi.
Only France and Qatar have so far recognised the council based in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, which is fighting government forces.
"We talked about immediately sending experts to Benghazi, experts in many fields: energy, transportation, healthcare, infrastructure. These people are to be seconded to the council in Benghazi," Frattini said.
The Italian minister also dismissed overtures from embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as a regime envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Abdul Lati Laabidi, criss-crossed the Mediterranean in a bout of frantic diplomacy.
Laabidi met with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Sunday and was set to travel to Turkey and Malta on Monday for further consultations.
"This morning I had the foreign minister of Greece on the phone explaining to me what happened and [the message from] the meeting was: 'The regime will respect the ceasefire'. Nothing was said about a departure of Gaddafi," he said.
"That's why it's not possible for us to accept the situation," he said, adding: "The proposals are not credible. It is not possible to accept them."
Following the talks in Athens, Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas earlier said the Gaddafi regime was "looking for a solution" to the conflict.
The Libyan rebels insisted Monday that Gaddafi's whole family must leave before there can be any truce with regime forces, as reports said his sons are offering to oversee a transition that would include democratic reforms.
Esawi said the succession of a Gaddafi son was "not acceptable".
He also said that the interim national council would "respect the legitimate rights of foreigners and foreign companies in Libya" including Italian energy major ENI - the biggest foreign oil producer operating in the country.
Frattini also said the option of arming the Libyan opposition to fight Gaddafi loyalists could not be excluded but would be "a last resort".
"Since we cannot fight on the ground, helping people to self-defence by supplying arms cannot be excluded," he said.
"'All necessary means' includes helping people to help themselves," Frattini said, quoting a UN Security Council resolution approved last month.
He said Italy would also be sending planes and a hospital ship to evacuate injured people, including from the besieged rebel-held city of Misrata.
