THE GUARDIAN: Former prime minister says Libyan officials trying to negotiate with UK, France and US, as rebels outline ceasefire conditions
The regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has initiated a concerted effort to open lines of communication with western governments in an attempt to bring the conflict in the country to an end.
As fighting continues in Libya, the country's former prime minister Abdul Ati al-Obeidi told Channel 4: "We are trying to talk to the British, the French and the Americans to stop the killing of people. We are trying to find a mutual solution."
Obeidi's indication of the increased effort to make contact with western governments came as opposition leaders in the rebels' de facto capital of Benghazi laid out their own conditions for a ceasefire.
The initiatives on both sides appear to reflect an emerging stalemate between the forces and a growing war-weariness.
Obeidi's comments followed his confirmation that a meeting had taken place between a senior aide to Gaddafi's influential son Saif al-Islam and British officials on Wednesday in London, as revealed by the Guardian. » | Peter Beaumont | Friday, April 01, 2011
