Italy will send military trainers to aid the rebels in Libya, the defence minister said Wednesday, in the first deployment of army personnel in Libya since the time when it was an Italian colony.

"There is a clear understanding that the rebels have to be trained," Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa told reporters after meeting his British counterpart Liam Fox in Rome, following similar announcements by Britain and France.

"Italy is ready to send the same number of military staff as Britain to be instructors in Libya. We are talking about 10 at the moment," La Russa said.

"There are young people who want to fight for their cause but don't have the necessary ability," he said, adding that Italy hoped its "know how" would empower the rebels in their fight against Moamer Kadhafi's trained soldiers.

Later on Wednesday, the defence minister reiterated that Italy had no intention to carry out attacks on the ground in Libya, describing the country's role in the conflict in football terms, as a midfielder rather than a striker.

"The rebels have not asked the international coalition to carry out an intervention on the ground because they don't want other Muslim countries to accuse them of having allowed crusaders onto their territory," he said.

Libya was an Italian colony from 1911 until World War II and has retained close ties with the North African state. Italian energy major ENI is the top foreign oil producer in Libya and Italy is Libya's top trade partner.

Italy had major defence and construction contracts with the regime, many of which have now been suspended. Kadhafi was also a frequent visitor to Rome where he enjoyed friendly ties with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Kadhafi expelled many Italian firms and thousands of expatriates when he came to power in 1969 and often uses anti-colonial rhetoric in his speeches but signed a friendship treaty with Italy in 2008 that healed diplomatic ties.

France earlier on Wednesday said it had already sent military advisers to Libya's rebel Transitional National Council (TNC). Britain on Tuesday also said it would send advisers to help organise the stalled rebellion.

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