China made its first confirmed contact with Libyan rebels in the
latest diplomatic setback for Muammar Gaddafi, and France said on
Friday it was working with those close to the veteran ruler to convince
him to leave power.
The meeting in Qatar between a Chinese diplomat and the leader of the
rebel National Transitional Council follows a spate of defections by
high profile figures this week including top oil official and former
prime minister Shukri Ghanem.
Libyan rebels and NATO have made Gaddafi's departure a condition for
agreeing a ceasefire in a conflict that has killed thousands, but he
emphatically told visiting South African President Jacob Zuma this week
he would not leave Libya.
A NATO-led military alliance extended its mission to protect civilians
in Libya for a further 90 days this week, and France said it was
stepping up military pressure as well as working with those close to
Gaddafi to try to convince him to quit.
"He is more and more isolated," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe
Juppe told Europe 1 radio. "There have been more defections around him
and we have received messages from his close entourage which has
understood that he must leave power."
"We will increase the military pressure as we have been doing for
several days...but at the same time we are talking with everyone who
can convince him to leave power," he said, speaking by telephone during
a visit to Israel.
In Beijing, a terse Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said Beijing's
ambassador to Qatar, Zhang Zhiliang, had met and "exchanged views on
developments in Libya" with Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the chairman of the
Council, which is trying to offer itself as a credible temporary
alterative to embattled Gaddafi.
The ministry gave no details of the talks but the meeting itself was an
indication that Beijing wants to keep open lines of communication with
the rebel forces that could supplant Gaddafi, even as it urges a
political solution.
"China's stance on the Libya issue is clear -- we hope for a political
solution to the Libyan crisis, and believe that Libya's future should
be determined by its people," it said.
China was among the emerging powers that abstained in March when the
United Nations Security Council voted to authorize NATO-led air
strikes. But China also quickly condemned the subsequent expansion of
those strikes, and since then has repeatedly urged a ceasefire and a
political compromise.
China was never especially close to Gaddafi, but it generally tries to
avoid taking firm sides in other countries' domestic conflicts,
including in the Middle East, where it has been buying growing
quantities of oil. Reuters
