BENGHAZI, Libya >> Italy’s foreign minister says Rome has signed a deal with Libya’s rebels to provide them with a credit line of hundreds of millions of euros.

Franco Frattini says Italy’s oil giant Eni and UniCredit Bank will supply the rebels’ national council with a “huge quantity of fuel and a huge amount of money” to help address the needs of the Libyan people.

He told reporters Tuesday that the Italian institution granting credit for export for the operation will be Sace. Frattini also said billions of euros of frozen Libyan assets held in Italy represent “a very valid guarantee for this transfer of money.”

The Libyan opposition to Moammar Gadhafi has said it is running out of money, and has been desperately trying to secure funds from its Western supporters.