Exclusive: Battered Libya sues for peace

[dipsydoodle]

Source: the independant

The Libyan regime is preparing to make a fresh overture to the international community, offering concessions designed to end the bloodshed of the three-month-long civil war.

The Independent has obtained a copy of a letter from the country's Prime Minister, Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, being sent to a number of foreign governments. It proposes an immediate ceasefire to be monitored by the United Nations and the African Union, unconditional talks with the opposition, amnesty for both sides in the conflict, and the drafting of a new constitution.

David Cameron and Barack Obama met yesterday to try to find an exit strategy from a conflict increasingly appearing to have no definitive military solution in sight. The US President acknowledged that the allies now seem to face a long, attritional campaign.

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Behind the scenes, there are signs that Western powers may agree to a ceasefire without the precondition of Muammar Gaddafi and his immediate family going into exile.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/exclusive-battered-libya-sues-for-peace-2289133.html

[Prometheus Bound]

1. Well that's good news.

[AllTooEasy]

2. Another Qaddafi ploy. He's violated every ceasefire. Lied...

constantly about everything. He's a mass murdering bastard who took W for a sucker. I hope Obama doesn't fall for any of his BS.

I hate war, but I HATE mass murdering, power hungry, meglamaniacs like Qaddafi more! Kill 'em. For him, I'll make an exception with my anti-capital punishment stance.

But hey, he's just killing/percecuting a bunch of Nig...I mean "Black People", like myself. Let's give him a chance, right?

Hitler, a Euro who killed Euros, deserved his fate, but I guess an African who kills Africans gets a hug.

To Hell with Qaddafi...and anyone who protect him.

[Igel]

6. There's a problem with that.

Most black Africans are sub-Saharan. As you go north you run into Berbers. Then Arabs. There's been some gene flow northward, to be sure. But as the persecution of black Africans by the rebels has shown--with Qaddhafi being the one who allowed the blacks to migrate north unimpeded, or hired some as mercenaries--Libyans see a difference. So do most Americans that aren't hung up on the "one drop" rule.

Oddly, Qaddhafi has had pretty good relations with a number of sub-Saharan leaders. The AU doesn't always support his plans and goals, but one of them was to make the AU parallel to the EU, with common juridical, legal, and economic ties. The N. African leaders typically opposed this: They more often see their cultural and ethnic ties as reaching to the Levant and not across the Sahara.

[pampango]

3. The African Union and Russia may be offering Ghadaffi an "exit plan", too.

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.

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

[Jester Messiah]

5. That would be consistent with standard procedure.

They usually offer the dictator a life of comfort in some out-of-the-way place in return for stepping down. It's an abrogation of justice, but if it stops people from dying in the continuation of a pointless war, then many see it as a fair price.

[Igel]

7. That's the first half.

The second half is to renege on the agreement.

[Jester Messiah]

8. That's certainly possible

Undermines future use of the tactic, though.

[tomg]

4. Why do I think that

they are going to split Libya into two - an oil rich but relatively sparsely populated half under Benghazi "sympathetic" to the western interests and a relatively poor but more populous region under Tripoli ( and Gaddafi until he has the good taste to die) which acts as a a regional "scary guy" - which, of course, necessitates more military presence in the region.