The Gaddafi regime has opened direct negotiations with the opposition for the first time, it was claimed yesterday as Nato bombing hit new sites in the capital, Tripoli.
A rebel fighter fires towards forces loyal to Col Gaddafi in Dafniya Photo: AP
By Nick Meo, Tripoli, Ruth Sherlock in Misurata
8:00PM BST 16 Jun 2011
The surprise announcement came as Colonel Gaddafi's son Saif-al Islam said the best way to end the bloody four-month crisis was to hold elections later this year.
Mikhail Margelov, personal envoy of Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, said discussions were held in Paris between representatives of the Tripoli government and the Benghazi-based rebels.
He said he had been told of the "direct contacts" by Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, Libya's Prime Minister, at a meeting in the Libyan capital. He did not give details.
The talks, which would breach rebel demands that Col Gaddafi stand down before negotiations begin, were not confirmed by the opposition Transitional National Council.
The British Foreign Office also said it had not heard of any such talks, while the French foreign ministry could not confirm if the meeting took place.
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"I was assured that direct contacts between Benghazi and Tripoli have been established," Mr Margelov was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass news agency. "Prime Minister Mahmoudi assured me that the latest round of such contacts ended in Paris yesterday."
The chances of a breakthrough remain bleak. Mr Mahmoudi continued to insist yesterday that Col Gaddafi would not leave the country, as the rebels and Nato insist.
His son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, once seen as his father's heir apparent, made a rare intervention to suggest holding a vote as a way to end the crisis.
"Elections, immediately and with international supervision. It's the only painless way to break out of the impasse in Libya", he told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
He said his father would step down if he lost, but he also said he would not leave the country. The US State Department dismissed the proposal.
The Gaddafi regime has been under intense pressure in recent days as rebel forces threaten a breakthrough on two fronts. They have taken a number of towns and villages in mountains less than 100 miles to the south-west of Tripoli, and moved close to the loyalist stronghold of Zlitan, west of Misurata.
But the rebels are also showing signs of strain. A logistics official in Misurata, Libya's third city and an important port, told The Daily Telegraph it would run out of fuel in two weeks, risking falling under Col Gaddafi's control.
Recent shelling of the port area by Gaddafi forces had forced the delay of more shipments, Ahmed al-Ruwaiati, head of the city's utilities committee, said.
"Qatar and other countries have promised to supply Misurata with fuel," he said. "But the problem is the shelling. Maybe they will cancel the shipment." Rebels have pushed back regime forces to the perimeters of the town, but long-range shelling continues to reach the port area. Three rockets struck the fuel depot nearby earlier this week, narrowly missing a giant container full of fuel.
One rocket crashed into a control room for the electricity generators.
The depot was filled a week before the uprising began in mid-February, a supply which allowed residents in Misurata to live for three months under siege, using the fuel to power electricity generators for homes and hospitals after regime forces struck the city power station.
But as well as domestic energy, fuel is necessary for military vehicles and transport. The further the front lines are pushed out, the more vital diesel has become.
For the first time since the siege gripped the city, rebel leaders are considering rationing. "Trucks inside the city use a lot of fuel, so we are thinking to limit the use of these just to supply the front lines," Mr Al-Ruwaiati said.
"If we run out of fuel we will stop all movement in the city, and give the fuel that we have to the fighters. We will use donkeys, horses and camels if we have to."
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