France has become the first country to recognise the Libyan rebel leadership, the National Libyan Council (NLC), as the country's legitimate government.
But other members of the European Union held back, with a spokesman for the EU's foreign affairs chief warning against "rushing" into decisions.
In another development, the Gaddafi government said a captured Dutch helicopter crew was being handed over.
Nato chiefs have also been meeting in Brussels to discuss Libya.
Separately, a search was under way in Libya for a missing reporter for the UK's Guardian newspaper, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad.
The award-winning Iraqi journalist entered the country from Tunisia and was last in touch with the paper through a third party on Sunday, when he was on the outskirts of Zawiya, which saw heavy fighting in recent days.