There is no future for Gadhafi, Italy says

ROME, May 4 (UPI) -- Moammar Gadhafi's rule is doomed and Italy must lead in rebuilding Libya, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told Parliament Wednesday.

The rebel council based in Benghazi "told us they will remember who helped them and who turned their backs on them," Frattini said.

"No one in the world thinks the Gadhafi regime can have a future," he asserted.

Only Italy, France, Qatar, Maldives, Kuwait and Gambia have officially recognized the council as Libya's legitimate government so far, ANSA reports.

Frattini also emphasized Italian corporations must "be protagonists in the construction of the present and future of Libya and the Mediterranean."

Italy is holding a meeting of the U.S.-European-Arab Libya Contact Group Thursday to assess the situation.