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UN envoy to meet Libya rebels over peace plan
The UN says its envoy will hold talks with Libyan rebel leaders on informal plans for a negotiated end to the war.
This is coming as Western powers increase diplomatic and military pressure on Muammar Gaddafi to step down.
Rebels said that Abdul Elah al-Khatib arrived in the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi on Monday, as a diplomatic push to end the conflict gears up, apparently, a further sign of moves toward a political solution.
Gaddafi is holding-on to power despite a four-month-old NATO air strikes and five months of fighting with rebels who have seized large parts of the North African country.
Ceasefire plans
Last week, a European diplomat said that al-Khatib would try to persuade warring parties in Libya to accept an informal plan that considers a ceasefire followed by the creation of an interim power-sharing government, but with no role for Gaddafi.
In a statement, al-khatib noted:"The UN is making very serious efforts to create a political process that has two pillars; one is an agreement on a ceasefire and simultaneously an agreement on setting up a mechanism to manage the transitional period". But he did not give details of that mechanism.
End of war negotiation talks
This visit comes a day after Gaddafi's foreign minister, Abdelati Obeidi, ended a three-day round of talks in Cairo to seek a negotiated end to the war.
According to the Libyan government, its representatives are ready to hold more talks with the United States and the rebels, but that Gaddafi himself will not negotiate and will not quit.
On Friday, Spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, said that senior Libyan officials had a "productive dialogue" with US counterparts earlier this month in a rare meeting that followed US recognition of the rebel government.
As part of a political deal to end the war, opposition leader, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, said Gaddafi and his family could stay in Libya, provided they give up power.
In his words, "Gaddafi can stay in Libya but it will have condition. We will decide where he stays and who watches him. The same conditions will apply to his family."
However, hopes for a negotiated settlement have grown.
Reuters/Emma/Williams
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