Libyan rebels will meet senior White House officials in Washington Friday, seeking both cash and diplomatic legitimacy in their war to topple Muammar Gaddafi.
The head of the rebel National Transitional Council's executive bureau, Mahmoud Jebril, will meet President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Tom Donilon, and other senior officials, the White House said in a statement.
Jebril, a U.S.-educated technocrat who has become the public face of the rebel council, made a plea for Washington to free up some $180 million in frozen Gaddafi funds to fund the rebels fighting to end his 41-year rule.
The Washington meeting comes a day after the council's chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil met British Prime Minister David Cameron in London, securing a promise of more aid.
Rebels fighting Gaddafi for almost three months control Benghazi and the east of the country, while Gaddafi's forces are entrenched in the capital Tripoli and nearly all of the west.
NATO-led forces are bombing Libya under a U.N. resolution authorizing them to protect civilians. The United States, Britain and France say they will maintain their air campaign until Gaddafi's 41-year rule ends.
The rebels say they need funds urgently to pay salaries and run the areas under their control, and want international legitimacy to allow them access to frozen assets.
"We are facing a very acute ... financial problem because of the frozen assets," Jebril said at the Brookings Institution think tank. "So I would like to seize this opportunity ... to call on the United States administration to help us."
NATO forces bombed Gaddafi's compound early Thursday, and rebels say NATO air strikes helped them secure a major victory this week in seizing the airport in the besieged city of Misrata, their only major stronghold in the west of the country.
Yet the war on the ground remains largely stalemated, with the rebels having little success advancing beyond their eastern strongholds in their goal of ousting Gaddafi.
The head of the rebel National Transitional Council's executive bureau, Mahmoud Jebril, will meet President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Tom Donilon, and other senior officials, the White House said in a statement.
Jebril, a U.S.-educated technocrat who has become the public face of the rebel council, made a plea for Washington to free up some $180 million in frozen Gaddafi funds to fund the rebels fighting to end his 41-year rule.
The Washington meeting comes a day after the council's chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil met British Prime Minister David Cameron in London, securing a promise of more aid.
Rebels fighting Gaddafi for almost three months control Benghazi and the east of the country, while Gaddafi's forces are entrenched in the capital Tripoli and nearly all of the west.
NATO-led forces are bombing Libya under a U.N. resolution authorizing them to protect civilians. The United States, Britain and France say they will maintain their air campaign until Gaddafi's 41-year rule ends.
The rebels say they need funds urgently to pay salaries and run the areas under their control, and want international legitimacy to allow them access to frozen assets.
"We are facing a very acute ... financial problem because of the frozen assets," Jebril said at the Brookings Institution think tank. "So I would like to seize this opportunity ... to call on the United States administration to help us."
NATO forces bombed Gaddafi's compound early Thursday, and rebels say NATO air strikes helped them secure a major victory this week in seizing the airport in the besieged city of Misrata, their only major stronghold in the west of the country.
Yet the war on the ground remains largely stalemated, with the rebels having little success advancing beyond their eastern strongholds in their goal of ousting Gaddafi.
