Libyan rebels fire rockets towards Muammar Gaddafi's forces in Brega. Source: AFP
___
Muammar Gadaffi's deputy foreign minister flies to Athens
Claims that Abdul Ati al-Obeidi, who used the same route out of Libya as Moussa Koussa, is in Athens to discuss a ceasefire
Harriet Sherwood in Tripoli, Ian Black and Patrick Wintour
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 3 April 2011 20.35 BST
Article history
Abdul Ati al-Obeidi has flown from Libya to Greece. It is suggested he is discussing a ceasefire or possible departure terms for Gaddafi. Photograph: Mahmud Turkia/Getty
Renewed signs that key figures in Muammar Gaddafi's regime are seeking an end to the crisis emerged on Sunday when deputy foreign minister Abdul Ati al-Obeidi flew to Greece using the same route out as defector and his former boss, Moussa Koussa. It was suggested he was in Athens trying to bring new proposals for a ceasefire, or over the terms of the possible departure of Gaddafi.
It was also claimed Saif al-Islam, one of Gaddafi's sons and a pivotal figure in the regime, is proposing a compromise resolution to the country's civil war involving the Libyan leader relinquishing power to a new constitutional democracy.
In the latest addition to a rich canvas of speculation and rumour, Saif al-Islam is said to be suggesting a transition under his direction as a possible way out of the current impasse between the regime based in Tripoli and the rebel forces whose stronghold is the eastern city of Benghazi.
The report coincided with another from a well-placed Arab source of an approach by Gaddafi to the former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan. Gaddafi is said to have offered political reforms during a transition period overseen by one of his sons, the source said. Annan was involved in important aspects of bringing Libya in from the cold during his decade running the world body from 1997 to 2007.
Saif's move follows a visit to London by Mohammed Ismail, a key aide, revealed by the Guardian on Friday, to explore possible exit strategies for the Libyan regime in order to bring the conflict to an end.
David Cameron has sent a small foreign office team to Benghazi to undertake further consultations with rebels on a possible ceasefire and the make up of a new government in the event of Gaddafi leaving. The team, led by the British ambassador to Italy, Christopher Prentice, arrived in Benghazi on Saturday, leaving Richard Northern, the British ambassador to Tripoli in London to oversee operations. Prentice has spent much of his career in the Middle East including Iraq and Jordan. British officials want to know more about the nature of the transitional council, its accountability and whether it would give Gaddafi safe passage out of the country rather than force him to face trial in Libya. It would also discuss the prospect of arming the rebels, but the foreign secretary, William Hague, said on Sunday that Britain was unlikely to be involved in this.
With Hague due to make a statement on Koussa, other defections and the general state of the civil war, it was being seen as significant that Obeidi left Libya via Tunisia, Tunisia's official news agency TAP said. He was not on an official visit and had not made contact with officials, it added.
According to Greek officials, Obeidi travelled to Athens to deliver a message to its government from Gaddafi. There was no comment from the Libyan government.
Obeidi, the Libyan minister of European affairs, accompanied Koussa to the Tunisian town of Djerba last Wednesday but returned to Tripoli while Koussa flew on to London.
Whether he is defecting or delivering a message about a new Libyan peace initiative, his trip is likely to be highly significant.
A former prime minister, Obeidi is a highly trusted figure and veteran of some of the most sensitive chapters of his country's recent diplomatic history. He negotiated the controversial release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbasset al-Megrahi in 2009.
Officials in Greece said there had been high-level contacts with Britain, Qatar and Libya before Obeidi's mission to Athens.
There have been widespread rumours since Koussa's defection last week that other senior regime officials may follow. The speculation has been encouraged by western governments, which see the implosion of Gaddafi's regime as a desirable outcome. The NATO-led coalition currently undertaking air strikes against the Libyan military has been divided over whether regime change is a legitimate goal of its actions.
According to a report in the New York Times Saif al-Islam – who holds no formal position in the Libyan government – is proposing an end to Gaddafi's 41-year rule and a transition to a constitutional democracy under his direction. However British sources have stressed there is no suggestion that Gaddafi is willing to accept the proposal being advanced by his son.
With M16 heavily involved in an effort to destabilise the regime, the rumours of deals being offered by senior Gaddafi figures are hard to verify.
The Interim National Council, which is heading the rebellion, has insisted that Gaddafi must relinquish power and is unlikely to accept his family's involvement in a move to a new government.
Although Saif has launched belligerent attacks on the uprising in the east and has publicly pledged that his family will "live and die in Libya", some see him as more pragmatic than his father. He has had a long association with western figures, including Tony Blair and Lord Mandelson, and studied at the LSE.
Hague insisted it was right to let former Libyan intelligence chief Koussa come to Britain, and denied there had been any deal involving his asylum.
He said his officials would meet Scottish police today to discuss when they would be allowed to interview Koussa about the Lockerbie bombing and other crimes, saying: "We want more information about past events."
The Foreign Office refused to comment on the suggestion, saying only that Koussa would be "entitled to apply for asylum".
But Tory MP Ben Wallace, parliamentary aide to justice secretary Ken Clarke, told the Mail on Sunday: "This man should not be granted asylum or any other special treatment. The only proper outcome is to bring him to justice."
Hague declined to say whether Koussa had been contacting ex-colleagues urging them to follow his example.
"I think that when someone like that says they want to get out it would be quite wrong to say no, you have got to stay there," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr show.
He said he did not believe that the conflict would end in a stalemate. "Let's be clear, if the Libyan regime tries to hang on in this situation, they are internationally isolated, they can't sell any oil," he said.
"There is no future for Libya on that basis, and so I think even the prospect of stalemate should encourage people in Tripoli to think, 'Well, Gaddafi has now got to go'."
No comments:
Post a Comment