Zuma to offer Gaddafi 'exit strategy'

[pampango]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/05/20115259220999993.html

South African president Jacob Zuma will visit the Libya next week, for talks officials say will focus on an "exit strategy" for the country's embattled leader, Muammar Gaddafi. Zuma visited Tripoli on April 10 as part of an African Union delegation to broker a truce between Gaddafi and his opponents, but a peace plan fell through when the rebels insisted the longtime ruler step down.

"President Zuma will stop over in Tripoli for a discussion on May 30," the South African presidency said in a statement.

Two sources in the presidency, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the talks would focus on Gaddafi's "exit strategy", the AFP news agency reported.

Despite attempting to broker peace in Libya, South Africa voted for a UN resolution authorising a no-fly zone over the country. But Pretoria has also since criticised NATO's bombing campaign, and said that it does not support regime change in the country.

[Odin2005]

1. A rapist trying to help a murderous thug.

[pampango]

2. Looks like Russia and the African Union may be involved.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2048496.ece

Russia and the African Union (AU), in a bid to end the Libyan civil war, is engaged in a vigorous diplomatic exercise, which is coming into sharper focus as the limitations of NATO air strikes in ending the Libyan conflict get increasingly exposed. ... Mr. Zuma’s visit will follow a two day special session on Libya of the African Union, which commenced in Adis Ababa on Wednesday. The AU had in March, appointed a high level Ad hoc committee on Libya, which also includes President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Amadou Toumani Touré of Mali. The AU representatives had earlier visited Libya in April.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that he expected a breakthrough after the AU special session got over in the Ethiopian capital. He made his remarks after meeting in Moscow with Abdel Rahman Shalgam, the Libyan opposition representative.

The Russian Foreign Minister appeared to ground his optimism on the opposition’s willingness to accommodate other groups in a dialogue in order to form a new government based on national reconciliation. Mr. Lavrov said on Tuesday following his meeting with Mr. Shalgam that the Benghazi based Transitional National Council (TNC) is not seeking recognition as the “sole legitimate” authority in the country. On the contrary, the TNC wants itself to be considered “as a legitimate partner in the talks” to end the war. Mr. Lavrov stressed that the opposition was well aware that other parties including representatives of Tripoli and Libya’s western regions must be involved in negotiations, CNN reported. However, Mr. Shalgam clarified that the opposition would not mend fences with Mr. Qadhafi. “We will have peace and no gunfire when Qadhafi relinquishes power or leaves the country,” he said.

Behind the scenes, the Qadhafi regime, on its part, appeared actively engaged with the politically influential international oil majors, in order to expand the space for negotiations. Reuters is reporting that contrary to the cascading media reports, Shokri Ghanem, Libya’s oil minister has not defected. Instead, he is secretively working for Mr. Qadhafi, and is the regime’s conduit for talks with major western oil companies. Citing a Libyan opposition source as well as a source at a major international oil company, the report said that last week, Mr. Ghanem had invited to Tunisia, oil company representatives to discuss energy contracts. Mr. Ghanem apparently wanted to assure the companies that their contracts would continue to retain their validity despite the current contractual breaches that have occurred because of the uprising.