Susan Crabtree April 27, 2011, 9:01 AM

President Barack Obama formally ordered up to $25 million in urgent — but non-military — aid for Libyan rebels fighting Muammar Qaddafi as a fears of a open-ended stalemate escalated.

Obama granted the funds to Libya’s Transitional National Council in a memo from the President to Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton early Tuesday evening.

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