Big news. I believe that this technically gives France greater freedom to intervene in Libya, as from a domestic legal perspective it would be assisting a government against a rebel movement led by Gaddafi, instead of supporting rebels in a foreign country against the government.
France has become the first country to recognise the Libyan rebel leadership, the National Libyan Council (NLC), as the country’s legitimate government.
It came as Nato met to discuss military options in the Libyan conflict including a possible no-fly zone.
There is growing concern about the bombing of rebel-held areas by the forces of Col Muammar Gaddafi.
A BBC team detained and beaten up in Libya witnessed widespread mistreatment by the security forces.
In recent days, pro-Gaddafi forces have tried to regain ground in the rebel-held east, and have bombarded rebel forces in the town of Zawiya, 50km (30 miles) west of Tripoli.
The president of the International Red Cross said on Thursday there was a marked increase in civilian casualties in what he called a “civil war”.
The office of French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Paris regarded the NLC as Libya’s “legitimate representative”.
Mustafa Gheriani, a spokesman for the rebels in their eastern stronghold of Benghazi, said the French move was “breaking the ice”, adding that he expected other EU members to follow suit.
However Italy and Spain have said they will not take a similar step until European Union members have reached a common position on the issue