Libyan government makes election offer to halt bombing
Libya’s foreign minister Abdul Ati al-Obeidi tells journalists that the country could hold elections if Western air strikes stop.
In a meeting with western journalists Al-Obeidi is reported to have said that if the bombing stops, a UN supervised election could follow six months later. He said: “It is not a case of it going our way or their way, it’s a case of how we can sit together with our brothers.”
He said that the Libyan government was ready to discuss a ceasefire with Nato but stressed that the bombs have to stop first: “If there is a real ceasefire and these bombs stop, we could have a real dialogue among Libyans. It cannot be done with wht is going on now.”
British intervention will ‘plant hatred’
Obeidi criticised UK and French involvement in Libya and accused them of standing in the way of a ceasefire by offering military assistance to the rebels. The British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Tuesday that a group of military officers will be deployed to Libya’s second city Benghazi, which is an opposition stronghold. He said: “The National Security Council has decided that we will now move quickly to expand the team already in Benghazi to include an additional military liason advisory team.” The French government is also sending military liason officers to support opposition forces.
Mr Hague said the move was needed to help protect civilians in Libya and was compatible with the United Nations resolution which authorised a no-fly zone.
But Obeidi said that such moves would stand in the way of a peaceful solution. He said: “The more the west gives arms, the more they will plant hatred. We do not want to be another Iraq or Somalia. The west could advise the other side to listen to common sense and study the peace initiatives.”