Washington, April 27 (IANS) US President Barack Obama Tuesday authorised up to $25 million in non-lethal aid to the opposition in Libya, the White House said.In a memorandum to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defence Secretary Robert Gates, Obama directed that the aid be offered in the form of non-lethal commodities and services from the inventory and resources of any agency of the federal government to support "key US government partners" such as the Libyan opposition's Interim Transitional National Council, Xinhua reports.

Under the memorandum, the aid will be used in efforts to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas under threat of attack in Libya.

US officials had said that the aid package would include vehicles, ambulances, medical equipment, body armour, radios and ready to eat meals.

Obama approved last week the use of armed Predator drones in the military mission in Libya.

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution imposing a no-fly zone over Libya March 17, paving the way for a military operation against Gaddafi which began two days later. The US handed command to NATO in late March.
Despite dozens of sorties carried out by NATO aircraft against Gaddafi's forces, the government troops maintain their combat capability and continue to pound poorly-equipped rebels with heavy artillery and rocket fire.