French President Nicolas Sarkozy will meet with President of Libyan Council of National Transition (CNT), Moustapha Abdeljalil, Wednesday at the Elysee Palace, the presidency said on Tuesday in a statement.

Sarkozy "will receive tomorrow, Wednesday, in the Elysee Palace, Mr. Moustapha Abdeljalil, president of the Transitional National Council of Libya for talks on the situation in Libya and the process of democratic transition," the statement said.

France is the first country that recognizes the rebel's administrative body as the legitimate representative of Libya and Libyan people.

Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said last month that France was mulling arming the rebels in the fight against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, whose forces still overran the rebels despite the NATO's air strikes since March 19.

At the first "contact group" meeting last week in Doha, Qatar, delegates from coalition allies, the Arab League and the African Union urged Gaddafi to step down.

However, there are still few countries that formally recognize the CNT.