Mahmud Jibril, a Libyan opposition leader who planned to meet this week with US officials in Washington, has postponed his trip until “a later date,” a US diplomatic official said yesterday.

Mr Jibril’s flight from Doha was cancelled, and he has rescheduled his visit to the US capital “for early May, when Congress returns from recess”, according to a separate statement by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank where the rebel leader had been due to speak yesterday.

US officials earlier had said they and US lawmakers were seeking to pursue efforts to better understand the Libyan opposition in talks with Mr Jibril, who handles foreign policy for Libya’s Transitional National Council (TNC).

Mr Jibril was to meet with Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg, Defence Department officials and members of Congress.

He had met a few weeks ago in Paris with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the sidelines of an international conference aimed at mapping out a future for Libya after strongman Muammar Gaddafi has been driven from power.

Unlike France, Italy and Qatar, the United States has not recognised the TNC. Washington says it wants to obtain a “clearer picture” of who they are first.

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