Leaders of the Libyan uprising that overthrew Muammar Gadafy met with world powers in Paris today to map out the country's rebuilding, 42 years to the day after the former strongman seized power in a coup.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy and British prime minister David Cameron - who spearheaded the military campaign that helped rebels drive Gaddafi from power - laid on full honours for Libya's interim leaders as they set out their roadmap for reconstruction to US, European, Arab and African leaders.
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton urged the interim leaders to seek reconciliation, not retribution, after their victory over Col Gadafy and pledged support for the transition.
She told the meeting the coalition's military campaign should continue as long as civilians are under threat, but said United Nations sanctions should be lifted in a responsible way and the new leaders given Libya's UN seat.
"The work does not end with the end of an oppressive regime," she said. "Winning a war offers no guarantee of winning the peace that follows. What happens in the coming days will be critical."
With the West anxious to avoid mistakes made in Iraq, the tight three-hour agenda of the first "Friends of Libya" meeting focused on political and economic reconstruction. The heads of Nato, the UN and the European Union were also present.
Yet talks on the sidelines exposed early jostling for lucrative opportunities in restoring and expanding Libya's oil sector along with utilities and infrastructure.
"This is a potentially rich country. They have oil. They have resources frozen around the world. If we could find a way to move over to a democratic better-governed Libya, this could actually be a prosperous country," Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt told reporters.
Libya, which boasts large reserves of top-quality crude oil, has been left badly underdeveloped by Col Gadafy, who as a young army captain ousted King Idris on September 1st, 1969.
The conference gave Libya's interim Chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil and interim prime minister Mahmoud Jibril their first platform to address the world since the National Transition Council's forces overran Tripoli and drove Col Gaddafy from power.
Their roadmap, outlined in Paris, targets a new constitution and elections within 18 months. It aims to avoid reprisals.
"This is not being dropped out of a Nato aeroplane, this is being delivered by the Libyan people," Mr Cameron told CNN shortly before the talks. "It is their revolution, it is their change."
French foreign minister Alain Juppe said the priority was to help with humanitarian needs and restoring water, power and fuel, but investment opportunities loomed for a second stage.
"You know this operation in Libya costs a lot. It's also an investment in the future because a democratic Libya is a country that will develop, offering stability, security and development in the region," Mr Juppe told RTL radio ahead of the talks.
Eager to meet immediate civilian needs, the NTC is expected to push for rapid access to billions of dollars in foreign-held Libyan assets frozen under UN sanctions on Col Gadafy.
The United States and Britain have won UN permission to unfreeze $1.5 billion each of Libyan assets and France got approval to release €1.5 billion of a total €7.6 billion of assets in France.
British foreign secretary William Hague said he wanted to see a closer trading and economic relationship between Europe and Libya. He also said British companies would not be "left behind" French and Italian rivals in jockeying for new business.
As well as big prospects for developing oil drilling, the end of the six-month conflict will open up big opportunities for infrastructure, construction, electric power, telecoms, water and tourism companies who are keen to challenge the privileged position enjoyed by Italian firms under Col Gadafy's long rule.
The NTC has said those who backed their revolt will be rewarded. French companies have already gone in to assess the situation, but Britain is not planning any missions until the conflict is completely over.
French oil major Total , which was producing 55,000 barrels of crude per day in Libya before the conflict, said it has not yet discussed new investment possibilities.
A rash of denials of a French newspaper report saying the NTC had agreed back in April to give France priority access to 35 per cent of Libyan oil in return for its backing underlined the sensitivity of prospects for investment.
Russia and China, which opposed the Nato intervention but will also be interested in bidding for contracts in a stable Libya, both sent delegations to the Paris talks.
Symbolically, Russia formally recognised the interim council today and Algeria, which has dragged its heels on the issue, said it would recognise a broad-based government the interim rulers hope to form.
Of the EU's 27 member states, 19 have recognised the interim council but eight countries have yet to do so.
There is also pressure for the International Monetary Fund to recognise Libya's new leadership, as its stamp of approval is needed for bodies like the World Bank and African Development Bank to join in reconstruction. The IMF says it would need the move to be supported by its 187 members.
While the Paris talks are not supposed to be about funding pledges, some aid or loans may be promised to aid the NTC, which is using money unfrozen earlier in France to buy wheat.
Libyan officials will remain in Paris on Friday to discuss their reconstruction needs in detail with partners like USAID.
The EU has sent aid, is preparing measures to help with justice, policing and security and financial management, and it lifted sanctions on six Libyan ports today.
Catherine Ashton, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs, told reporters the EU backed removing sanctions, unfreezing assets and supporting the economy into full activity.
French companies plan a trade mission to Libya for later in September, but the NTC told Reuters Liberation's report of an oil deal with France was "a joke" and "false".
Mr Juppe said it was "fair and logical" the NTC would give preference to countries that helped it but said that meant more than just France. "We're not alone. Italy is also there, (and) the Americans," he said.