From Clifford F. Thies:

"We have two options: Either freedom and access to development, or slavery under the feet of the tyrant Moamer Gaddafi." Libyan National Council.
On the eve of a meeting of the EU in Brussels, France has become the first country in the world to recognize the Libyan National Council as the legitimate government of the people of Libya.

Great Britain, which at one time floated the idea of imposing a no-fly zone in the northern region of the country, says merely that the LNC is a valid intermediary with which to make contact. Great Britain also continues to say that Gaddafi must go. NATO, while not imposing a no-fly zone, has instituted 24 hour surveillance of Libyan airspace using places in the Mediterranean equipped with side-looking radar. The French foreign minister is, at the time, meeting with his German counterpart, to press the issue.

In the meantime, Gaddafi continues to order air strikes against rebel positions. And, in Washington, D.C., the White House was claiming that the international community had never acted so quickly "with leadership from the United States," while the State Department was insisting that this is a U.N. matter and that the United States should not be identified as leading any effort to deal with the situation.