International contact group on Libya to meet in Qatar
International contact group on Libya to guide the international intervention in Libya will hold its first meeting in Qatar next week, officials said Thursday, Kazakhstan Today reports.
Almaty. April 13. Kazakhstan Today - International contact group on Libya to guide the international intervention in Libya will hold its first meeting in Qatar next week, officials said Thursday, Kazakhstan Today reports.
International delegates are to hold talks on the conflict in Libya, amid calls for Nato to intensify its campaign there, BBC News reported.
The international "contact group" will hear from representatives of the rebel national council based in eastern Libya, who show little sign so far of being able to dislodge the veteran leader from power in Tripoli despite the air campaign, Reuters reported.
Nor, after the collapse this week of an African Union-sponsored peace plan, was there any sign of compromise between the warring sides.
BBC says the talks come amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in the rebel-held city of Misrata, where pro-Gaddafi forces have continued to launched fresh attacks.
The last rebel-held area in the west, Misrata has been under siege for more than six weeks, with rights groups warning of a shortage of food and medical supplies.
On his way to the talks, British Foreign Secretary William Hague noted that the military situation had gone back and forth, telling the BBC that more pressure - both political and military - could be necessary.
"What may appear at the moment a military deadlock is not a deadlock in the world of diplomacy and sanctions, the isolation of the regime, and I hope the recognition of many in the regime that it has no long-term future," he said.
The BBC's James Robbins says many countries meeting in Qatar believe Col Gaddafi has to go, and want that made explicit in a joint statement at the end of the meeting.
But he says that agreeing such a position may prove hard.
France and Britain both want more Nato states to contribute combat aircraft to the mission in Libya, with French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe saying on Tuesday that Nato's efforts in Libya were so far "not enough".
Airstrikes have so far failed to tip the military balance decisively against Col Gaddafi's regime.
Among those due to attend the talks in Qatar will be former Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa, who fled to the UK late last month.
He is expected to meet rebels and the Qatari government on the sidelines of the talks and offer "insights" on the current situation in Libya, according to British officials.
Mr Koussa is a former head of Libyan intelligence and has been accused of being involved in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
Photo: BBC News
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