WORLD_ Libya: regime negotiates Col Muammar Gaddafi's position for first time

Libya: regime negotiates Col Muammar Gaddafi's position for first time
Col Muammar Gaddafi might eventually step down as Libya's leader, a senior regime official said on Wednesday night as military and diplomatic pressure on Tripoli intensified.
Thursday 26 May 2011
The Telegraph


For the first time, there were signs that all the proposals were beginning to move to a common ground, in which Col Gaddafi might be allowed to remain in power but only temporarily, while ceasefire negotiations took place Photo: EPA

By Richard Spencer, Tripoli 12:23AM BST 26 May 2011
Khaled Kaim, deputy foreign minister, for the first time admitted that all political options were on the table in future negotiations over the country's future. "This is for the Libyan people to decide," he told The Daily Telegraph.

He insisted that the Libyan leader was not considering an immediate "exit strategy" and the issue would not be subject to negotiations with the West or Nato.

But the admission came as European Union and African Union diplomats set out terms for a ceasefire and possible settlement, and the Libyan government sent its own ceasefire proposals to the United Nations.

For the first time, there were signs that all these proposals were beginning to move to a common ground, in which Col Gaddafi might be allowed to remain in power but only temporarily, while ceasefire negotiations took place.

The Libyan government letter to Ban Ki-Moon, the United Nations secretary general, and the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, reiterated what Mr Kaim said were existing Libyan government ceasefire proposals.

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That would include monitoring by the United Nations, and reconciliation talks with the rebels leading to a final settlement and a new constitution.

He denied media reports that a visit next week by African mediators led by President Jacob Zuma of South Africa would be discussing an "exit strategy" for the Libyan leader.

But he said that constitutional changes already discussed over the last year by the Libyan government apparatus included the possibility that Col Gaddafi would either take a figurehead role or retreat from politics altogether leaving a "normal" political system in place.

"It all depends on what the Libyan people want," he said.

The letter is likely to be dismissed by the rebel side, which has said such ceasefire offers have in the past three months been ignored by government forces even as they were being made. They also believe that Col Gaddafi is unlikely to step down – he already claims just to be a figurehead.

But European diplomats have softened their demands that Col Gaddafi leave immediately, suggesting he could remain in place while Libya's future was negotiated. At the same time the African Union position, which previously backed Tripoli, has shifted to acknowledge the need for political reform and a possible departure for the colonel.

Mr Ban said yesterday he had spoken to Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, the Libyan prime minister. "Last night, I spoke at length once again to listen to his concerns over the recent intensified bombing campaign," Mr Ban said.

"I reiterated the urgent need for a real ceasefire and serious negotiations on a transition to a government that fully meets the aspiration of the Libyan people."