Thursday, May 26, 2011

Libya: Regime Negotiates Col Muammar Gaddafi's Position for First Time

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Col Muammar Gaddafi might eventually step down as Libya's leader, a senior regime official said as military and diplomatic pressure on Tripoli intensified.

Khaled Kaim, deputy foreign minister, for the first time admitted that all political options were on the table in future negotiations over the country's future.

"This is for the Libyan people to decide," he told The Daily Telegraph.

He insisted that the Libyan leader was not considering an immediate "exit strategy" and the issue would not be subject to negotiations with the West or Nato.

But the admission came as European Union and African Union diplomats set out terms for a ceasefire and possible settlement, and the Libyan government sent its own ceasefire proposals to the United Nations.

For the first time, there were signs that all these proposals were beginning to move to a common ground, in which Col Gaddafi might be allowed to remain in power but only temporarily, while ceasefire negotiations took place. » | Richard Spencer, Tripoli | Thursdaay, May 26, 2011