Embattled Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi demeaned the recognition of the Libyan rebels’ Transitional National Council (TNC) as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people.

Embattled Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi demeaned the recognition of the Libyan rebels’ Transitional National Council (TNC) as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people.

In an audio message broadcast Friday night on state-run Libyan TV, Gaddafi addressed his supporters, telling them to “trample this silly recognition under your feet,” DPA reported

“This is our answer to all the decisions they took against the Libyan people,” Gaddafi said.

On Friday, officials from over 30 countries, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, attended the so-called Libya Contact Group meeting in Istanbul, where they agreed to recognize the National Transitional Council.

“The Gaddafi regime no longer has any legitimate authority in Libya,” the group said in a statement.

Clinton said the Transitional National Council “continues to gain legitimacy as the representative of the Libyan people” and conducts “high-level diplomacy with governments worldwide.”

On the other hand, Libyan rebels said some of their forces had breached the strategic town of Brega and then pulled back late Friday.
A spokesman for the rebels, Mohammed Zawi, said a group of reconnaissance troops had entered the strategically vital oil town from the north, and then pulled back four kilometers before midnight.