Gaddafi envoy meeting Greek officials

An envoy of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi who was in Malta yesterday is today due to meet Greek officials ahead of an emergency European Union summit in Brussels convened over the Libyan crisis, an AFP reporter said.

Mohammed Taher Siyala arrived at the Greek foreign ministry for talks with his counterpart Dimitris Dollis.

No statements to media are expected after the meeting.

Dollis last month headed a mission to Libya and oversaw negotiations with Gaddafi officials to evacuate some 200 Greek nationals, most of them construction company staff, trapped by the fighting between government forces and rebels.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou whose country has long had close ties with Libya, its neighbour to the south, spoke with Gaddafi late Tuesday by telephone. He urged him to resolve the crisis peacefully.

Both Gaddafi and the rebels have stepped up diplomatic efforts ahead of a series of EU meetings on Libya in Brussels.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will today meet two envoys from Libya's opposition seeking help against Kadhafi.

A "moderate member" of Gaddafi's regime was also en route for Portugal, where he was planning to meet Foreign Minister Luis Amado, an EU source said.

Another member of Gaddafi's inner elite, Major General Abdelrahman al-Zawi, landed in Cairo yesterday aboard a private Libyan plane.

Although the purpose of Zawi's visit was not immediately clear, it came as Arab League foreign ministers prepared to meet at the body's Cairo headquarters at the weekend to discuss a no-fly zone over Libya.