LONDON - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met a Libyan opposition leader in London on Tuesday while Washington prepared to send an envoy soon to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, officials said.

Her talks on the sidelines of an international conference on Libya marked an increase in US contact with the Transitional National Council (TNC), from whom US officials say they are trying to obtain a "clearer picture".

However, the United States has stopped short of officially recognizing the body, which it hopes will further the aims of a future democratic Libya.

It was Clinton's second meeting with Mahmud Jibril, who handles foreign affairs for the TNC, following a first on March 15 in Paris where she was attending a Group of Eight meeting.

Clinton was to seek Jibril's impression of the situation in Libya where rebels are beating back government forces amid Western military intervention.

AFP