Italy now recognises the Libyans as the North African country's only "legitimate" representatives, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Monday, DPA reported.
"We have decided to recognize the Libyan National Transitional Council as the sole legitimate interlocutor for bilateral affairs with Libya," Frattini said.
He made the remarks during a joint press conference in Rome with Ali Abd-al-Aziz al-Isawi a leading figure of Libya's Interim Transitional National Council (ITNC)- the political arm of forces opposing Moamer Gaddafi.
Frattini said Italy does not exclude the possibility of supplying the the rebels with weapons.
Last week, Frattini said Gaddafi should relinquish power in Libya and leave the country.
Citing attacks by pro-Gaddafi forces against civilians, Italy last month formally suspended the 2008 Rome-Tripoli friendship agreement on economic cooperation and measures for the swift deportation of illegal immigrants intercepted in the Mediterranean Sea.