French and Libyan officials yesterday talked up the chances of negotiating Muammar Gaddafi’s withdrawal from power and an end to the conflict wracking his country, after months of military stalemate.
Gaddafi’s prime minister told a French daily that the embattled regime was ready to begin talks with Paris and Libyan rebels “without preconditions” and without the interference of its authoritarian “Guide”.
France – which has spearheaded the Western diplomatic and military response to the crisis – confirmed it is in indirect talks to bring the fighting to an end and to smooth Gaddafi’s departure.
“A political solution in Libya is more vital than ever and it is beginning to take shape,” Prime Minister Francois Fillon told MPs before they voted to extend France’s role in military action.
“The Guide will not take part in these discussions. Everything must be open,” Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmudi told France’s Le Figaro newspaper, in an interview conducted in Tripoli and published yesterday.
“We are ready to negotiate unconditionally,” he said, although he called on Nato to halt air strikes. “We simply want a stop to the bombardments so that one can talk in a serene atmosphere. We cannot talk as bombs rain down.”
Mahmud Shammam, spokes-man for the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC), told AFP that the revolutionaries would only respond to “serious initiatives” that include the departure from power of Gaddafi and his sons.
He said Beshir Saleh, a Gaddafi ally, had approached France to propose the strongman step down but remain in Libya under international supervision, but that Gaddafi’s most influential son, Seif Al-Islam, had vetoed the idea.
France has previously insisted military action will continue until Gaddafi quits power but, with the costly campaign now four months old, Paris appears ready to talk.
“There have indeed been contacts, but it has not turned into a real negotiation,” Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told France Info radio. “The Libyan regime is sending messengers everywhere: to Turkey, New York, Paris.
“We are meeting envoys who say to us: look, ‘Gaddafi is ready to go, let’s talk about it’,” he added.
“The conditions for a ceasefire are not yet met,” Mr Juppe said, declaring that Gaddafi must admit UN monitors, return his troops to barracks and declare that he “is withdrawing from political and military power”. The military situation has now stabilised, with much of the country in rebel hands, but Gaddafi’s forces still in control of Tripoli and most western towns.
Several world powers, including Russia, Turkey and now France have tried to negotiate an end to the fighting, but Gaddafi’s camp has remained publicly defiant, despite reports of behind the scenes manoeuvres.
On Monday, US President Barack Obama told his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev that Washington will support the Kremlin’s bid to resolve the conflict if Gaddafi agrees to step aside. Algeria and Italy also urged a negotiated end to hostilities.