PARIS — Moving ahead of its allies, France on Thursday became the first country to recognize Libya ’s rebel leadership in the eastern city of Benghazi and said it would soon exchange ambassadors with the insurgents. 
 
 The move was a victory for the Libyan National Council in its quest for recognition and a setback for Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi who has been seeking whatever international support he can as NATO members in Brussels began a debate about the possible imposition of a no-flight zone over Libya. 
 
 The French announcement came as loyalist forces in Libya claimed new successes against the rebels west of the capital in the town of Zawiyah, while, to the east, loyalist forces renewed ferocious assaults on the key oil town of Ras Lanuf. 
 
 President Nicolas Sarkozy met in Paris on Thursday with Mahmoud Jibril and Ali Al-Esawi, representatives of the Libyan National Council that was set up after the uprising in Libya erupted in February. He was the first head of state to meet with insurgent leaders. 
 
 Soon afterward, a French announcement said France recognized the council as the sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people. News reports said that, in response, Libya would break diplomatic relations with France. 
 
 The move puts France ahead of other European powers that have been seeking ways of supporting the rebels in their goal of toppling Colonel Qaddafi. Normally, European Union countries say they recognize states, not governments, but the European Parliament has advocated recognition of the rebel leadership in Benghazi. 
 
 France has also set itself apart from some other nations, including the United States, by insisting that any military support for the rebels be authorized by the United Nations Security Council, but not carried out by NATO, since the alliance has an aggressive image in the Arab world. Washington favors using NATO. While he was out of government, Alain Juppé, the new French foreign minister, opposed France resuming full membership in NATO. 
 
 France’s aggressive diplomatic stance is seen as a way of showing commitment to the popular uprisings and democratic changes in the Middle East and North Africa, after Mr. Sarkozy admitted that Paris was slow to recognize the strength of the revolutionary movements in Tunisia, a former French protectorate, and Egypt. 
 
 The British and German governments both indicated on Thursday that their practice was to recognize only states, but British authorities called the rebels “valid interlocutors with whom we wish to work closely.” 
 
 In a highly embarrassing incident last weekend, Britain sent a small contingent of diplomats and special forces to try to make contact with the rebels in Benghazi, but they were arrested and later withdrew aboard a British warship sent to pick them up. 
 
 For its part, Germany on Thursday ordered the freezing of Libyan assets, which the finance ministry in Berlin said were worth “billions.” Rainer Brüderle, the German finance minister, said the decision would affect about 193 accounts held at 14 financial institutions in Germany. 
 
 In Brussels, NATO officials said on Thursday that the alliance has started 24-hour surveillance of Libyan airspace where Colonel Qaddafi has deployed warplanes against rebels trying to advance westward toward loyalist strongholds along the shores of the Gulf of Sirte. 
 
 But it was unclear what further steps NATO would end up taking, if any. The alliance’s secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, told reporters that NATO was considering a “range of options,” including humanitarian help, but that any move would be governed by three principles: that there was “demonstrable need,” a “clear legal basis” and “firm regional support.” 
 
 The Libyan National Council has been pressing for foreign aid amid divisions over the extent of external intervention in a revolt that rebel leaders want to preserve as a home-grown phenomenon. The insurgents have acknowledged being overwhelmed by the myriad tasks and challenges facing them. 
 
 “We’ve found ourselves in a vacuum,” Mustafa Gheriani, an acting spokesman for the provisional leadership, said Tuesday in Benghazi. “Instead of worrying about establishing a transitional government, all we worry about are the needs — security, what people require, where the uprising is going. Things are moving too fast.” 
 
 In the evolving diplomacy surrounding the conflict, Colonel Qaddafi has sent envoys across Europe and, according to some reports, Latin America and Africa, in many cases to argue against international intervention. 
 
 On Wednesday, emissaries were reported to have visited Egypt, Greece, Portugal, Malta and Brussels, where European Union foreign ministers were meeting Thursday to discuss Libya. 
 
 Greece confirmed that the colonel himself had spoken with Prime Minister George A. Papandreou and a government statement in South Africa said that he had spoken by telephone with President Jacob Zuma. 
 
 South Africa’s international relations minister, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, said on Thursday that Mr. Zuma told Colonel Qaddafi that South Africa “abhors the heinous human rights violations against his own people.” 
 
 “We took advantage through our president to tell him this has to stop with immediate effect,” the South African Press Association news agency reported. ||||| Delegates from more than 30 countries decided to recognize the Libyan opposition as the "legitimate authority of Libya," said Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on Friday. 
 
 In this Thursday, July 14, 2011 photo, two Libyan rebel commanders overlook the valley where forces loyal to Moammar Gadgafi are settled in Kabaw, western Libya. On the western front, rebels reported... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this Thursday, July 14, 2011 photo, Libyan rebels gather around a captured tank in Kabaw, western Libya. On the western front, rebels reported retaking the western mountain village of Qawalish, 70... (Associated Press) 
 
 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton greets Turkish Ambassador to the U.S., Namik Tan, right, alongside U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone, center, and his wife, Marie Ricciardone,... (Associated Press) 
 
 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton disembarks from her airplane upon arrival in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, July 15, 2011, for two days of meetings on Libya. (AP Photo/Saul Loeb, Pool) (Associated Press) 
 
 In this Thursday, July 14, 2011 photo, Libyan rebels fire a captured tank in Kabaw, western Libya. On the western front, rebels reported retaking the western mountain village of Qawalish, 70 miles (120... (Associated Press) 
 
 Frattini spoke on the sidelines of the fourth meeting of the Contact Group on Libya in Istanbul on Friday. The Libyan opposition is represented by the Transitional National Council. 
 
 "The entire Libyan Contact Group decided to recognize the TNC as the legitimate authority of Libya," Frattini told reporters. He said the recognition will be officially announced when the final document is released later in the day. 
 
 Such a recognition would amount to a serious upgrade of the diplomatic status of the Libyan opposition in the world and put enormous pressure on Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to step aside. 
 
 The U.S. and a growing number of countries already considered the council the legitimate interlocutor for the Libyan people but have not formally recognized it as Libya's government. The council has been seeking formal recognition from the United States and others for months. 
 
 Senior U.S. officials have said the Obama administration was preparing to strengthen ties with the council once it presents detailed plans for a democratic government as it becomes increasingly clear it will govern a post-Gadhafi Libya. 
 
 There are concerns, however, about whether the initial government would represent the full spectrum of Libyan society. Human Right Watch on Friday called on the Contact Group to press the opposition to ensure that civilians are protected in areas where rebels have assumed control. ||||| A senior delegation of Libyan rebels met with national security officials at the White House after a week with some military and diplomatic gains. But the US is withholding official recognition. 
 
 White House National Security Adviser Tom Donilon appears on NBC's Meet the Press in Washington, May 7. Donilon met with Mahmoud Gibril, president of the Libyan Transitional National Council’s Executive Bureau at the White House, Friday. 
 
 Libyan rebels met with top national security officials at the White House Friday, but the delegation failed to achieve the main plum it sought from the visit: official recognition by the United States of Libya’s self-declared interim government. 
 
 In a statement issued Friday afternoon, the White House said national security adviser Tom Donilon met with Mahmoud Gibril, president of the Libyan Transitional National Council’s Executive Bureau, and his delegation as part of “close consultations” between the Obama administration and the council. 
 
 The US recognizes the council as a “legitimate and credible interlocutor of the Libyan people,” the statement said. In contrast, it added, Mr. Donilon stressed to the Libyan opposition delegation that Muammar Qaddafi has “lost his legitimacy to rule” and reiterated President Obama’s call for Colonel Qaddafi to “leave immediately.” 
 
 But the statement skirted the issue of official US recognition of the interim government, just as it made no specific mention of efforts to make available to the rebels some of the $34 billion in Libyan funds the US holds. 
 
 Setback after positive week 
 
 The setback in Washington came at the end of what was largely a positive week for the rebels battling Qaddafi. Rebel fighters claimed some advances on the ground, taking control of the airport in the key western city of Misurata. Diplomatically the rebels also appeared to score a considerable gain when British Prime Minister David Cameron invited the Transitional National Council based in the rebel-controlled city of Benghazi to open a representative office in London. 
 
 But Washington continued to hold the rebels at arm’s length, with Defense Secretary Robert Gates stating Thursday that the US reluctance to provide lethal aid to the Libyan opposition derives from the fact that “we don’t know who they are.” 
 
 Mr. Obama also appeared to studiously hold back from a full embrace of the rebels by failing to stop by the White House meeting – as he sometimes does in cases where he wishes to convey presidential support. 
 
 At the same time, however, the White House did indicate that NATO would pursue its air campaign against Qaddafi as long as the Libyan leader continues his assault on the Libyan people. Obama met in the White House Friday with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and officials said the two leaders agreed that the alliance would continue its military role under the UN mandate to protect Libyan civilians. 
 
 NATO stepped up its bombardment of Libyan targets this week, with some strikes hitting the compound in which Qaddafi is believed to be holed up. That led to speculation that the alliance is trying to kill him as a way of ending what looks increasingly like a stalemate in a civil war between the rebels and forces loyal to Qaddafi. The US, however, insists that the NATO bombing campaign is not an assassination mission. 
 
 Some urge negotiated settlement 
 
 Some regional experts are insisting, meanwhile, that it is time for a negotiated political settlement to what is becoming an increasingly untenable conflict for Libyan civilians. 
 
 In a sharp critique of how the NATO military campaign has achieved only “indecisive” results, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said Friday it is time for the alliance to switch course and press for a cease-fire and a political agreement. 
 
 “Instead of stubbornly maintaining the present policy and running the risk that the aftermath will be one of dangerous chaos [the international community] should act now to secure a negotiated end to the civil war and facilitate a new beginning for Libya’s political life,” the ICG said. 
 
 Americans express considerable ambivalence about the NATO campaign and American involvement in it when asked. But from all the mixed feelings, what comes out on top is support for what is interpreted as Obama’s back-seat participation in the international campaign. 
 
 According to a Monitor/TIPP poll conducted May 1-6, a plurality of Americans say the US is “doing enough” in the NATO operation to protect Libyan civilians. In the poll, 41 percent said the US is doing “enough,” while 25 percent said the US is doing “too much” and 23 percent said its role is “not enough.” 
 
 Asked to judge Obama’s performance on Libya: Half of those polled said he was doing a “good” or “average” job on the issue, but 16 percent said he was doing an “unacceptable” job while 11 percent said his performance was “excellent.”
– France today became the first country to recognize the Libyan National Council as the only legitimate representative of the Libyan people, following a meeting between Nicolas Sarkozy and two representatives from the upstart government, the New York Times reports. France says it will soon engage ambassadors with the rebel group, which has set up camp in Benghazi. The move puts France ahead of its allies—including the United States, which, the Washington Post observes, has been unusually passive in the Libyan crisis, with President Obama seemingly content to let allies take the lead. France’s statement comes amidst a NATO meeting to decide whether to enforce a No-Fly Zone over Libya. Moammar Gadhafi’s forces have relentlessly exploited their air power against the rebels; today, planes and naval artillery bombarded Ras Lanuf, a major oil port controlled by opposition forces, CNN reports. Loyalist forces also claimed the central square of a rebel-held city just west of Tripoli, according to the Wall Street Journal. Gadhafi has held together the military better than originally appeared likely, and the outgunned rebels appear to have lost their momentum in their push toward the capital.