Europe
Gaddafi envoy seeks Turkish truce deal
Libyan envoy arrives in Turkey in a bid to negotiate a possible ceasefire with
opposition forces.
Last Modified: 04 Apr 2011 13:41
Obeidi and Papandreou met on Sunday evening, in a meeting that was requested by
the Libyan prime minister [AFP]
The Libyan deputy foreign minister has arrived in the Turkish capital, Ankara,
in a bid to help negotiate a ceasefire with opposition forces in the North
African nation, a day after he visited Greece on a similar mission.
Abdel Ati al-Obeidi is to meet his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutolgu on
Monday, where they will look at common ground between forces loyal to Muammar
Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, and the opposition National Council, officials said.
However, officials have not confirmed which members of the opposition would be
visiting Turkey and when.
The move comes a day after al-Obeidi went to Athens seeking a political
settlement on the Libyan crisis, over fears of an open-ended conflict.
"The Libyan envoy wanted to convey that his country has the intention to
negotiate," a Greek official said after the visit, adding: "We don't think that
there can be a military solution to this crisis."
Obeidi crossed into neighbouring Tunisia on Sunday and travelled from Djerba
airport to the Greek capital to meet George Papandreou, the Greek prime
minister, later in the day.
In a statement, the Greek foreign ministry said it was committed to seeking a
"political, diplomatic solution" to the crisis in Libya, where government
forces are battling pro-democracy fighters seeking to end Gaddafi's almost 42
year-old rule.
Papandreou had been talking by telephone with officials in Tripoli as well as
the leaders of Qatar, Turkey and Britain over the past two days.
Libya-Greece ties
Greece and Libya have had close ties since the 1980s.
"It stands to reason that Libya would reach out to the Greeks, if they would
reach out to anyone in Europe, because Greece is a country that's always been
Arab-friendly in its foreign policy," John Psaropoulous, editor of the Greek
magazine Odyssey, told Al Jazeera.
Given the poor state of the Greek economy, he added, its government is
currently particularly susceptible to incentives from Libya, such as cheap oil.
While it has not participated in the air strikes, Greece has provided access to
its territorial waters to French aircraft carriers southwest of Crete, along
with permanent territorial access to NATO and US forces.
"So it is a strategic ally in the region and it is worth the Libyans making an
attempt at least to see whether the Greeks are interested in showing some of
their friendship," he said.
Anita McNaught, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Tripoli, said there is much
speculation about what might be discussed during the reported negotiations.
They could involve some of transitional arrangement to help Gaddafi "take a
graceful exit from the Libyan political scene," she said.
Greece is likely to be viewed by Tripoli as one of few potential negotiating
partners in Europe, McNaught said.
"Would Libya think that Greece would be a more sympathetic ear in Europe, than
old friends like Italy, which Libya feels betrayed by, and all the other
implacable voices in the rest of the EU?"
Italy recognises rebels
Meanwhile in Italy, Franco Frattini, the country's foreign minister, dismissed
a message from Gaddafi's envoy for discussions to halt fighting in Libya,
saying that the request was "not credible" because it did not mention the
leader standing down.
Speaking after a meeting on Monday with Ali Essawi, a member of the Libyan
rebel council, Frattini said Gaddafi's departure was a "pre-condition" to any
negotiated settlement over Libya and gave his support to the country's
opposition council.
"We have decided to recognise the council as the only political, legitimate
interlocutor to represent Libya," he told reporters, in the clearest sign that
Italy now backs the Transitional National Council set up in Benghazi.
"A solution for the future of Libya has a pre-condition - that Gaddafi's regime
leaves and is out and that Gaddafi himself and his family leave the country,"
he said.
Italy is the third country to recognise the council, following France and Qatar.
Earlier, The New York Times reported that Seif al-Islam and Saadi Gaddafi, two
of the Libyan leader's sons, have created their own plan to remove their father
from power amicably and negotiate an end to the conflict.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
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