Representatives of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s embattled government held face-to-face talks with US officials in neighboring Tunisia over the weekend, a Libyan government official said, describing the meeting as a first step in opening dialogue.
A US Department of State official confirmed on Monday that the meeting took place, but said it was only to deliver a clear and firm message that Qaddafi must step down. The US official said it was not a negotiating session and no future meetings were planned.
The talks came after Friday’s decision by the US and more than 30 other nations meeting in Istanbul to recognize the eastern-based -rebels fighting Qaddafi’s government as Libya’s legitimate representatives, added the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the meeting publicly.
Warning: Smoking can damage your health
Photo: Reuters
Libyan spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told reporters in Tripoli that the talks were held on Saturday in Tunisia, but he refused to say which officials took part.
“This is a first step and we want to take further steps,” he said. “We don’t want to be stuck in the past; we want to move forward all the time,” he told reporters in the corridors of the hotel where foreign journalists are required to reside.
He described it as a “first-step dialogue” to see about repairing relations between the two countries, which he said had been damaged by misinformation.
The US was an active participant in NATO airstrikes against Libyan forces that began on March 19 and were authorized under a UN mandate to protect Libyan civilians from Qaddafi’s advancing forces.
The US later turned over command of the air campaign to NATO and now plays a largely logistical role in the continuing airstrikes.
Fighting continued on Monday around the eastern oil port of Brega. A reporter on the scene witnessed rocket duels between the opposing sides and the thick black smoke of burning oil terminals blanketing the sky.
In Tripoli, Ibrahim claimed that more than 500 rebels had been killed in five days of failed assaults against the strategic town. Rebels, however, have only reported a handful of casualties and maintain fighting continues in their attempt to take the oil terminal on the front lines of the civil war.
The government spokesman said the rebels attacked by sea using boats and along a desert highway and the main coastal road, but were repelled in every case.
“In these waves of attacks, unfortunately, 520 of the rebel forces have been killed in these five days,” he said. “This huge number came because of the lack of experience on the rebels’ part.”
Rebels have reported not more than two dozen dead in the last several days and scores wounded, but nowhere near the amount claimed by Ibrahim. They also maintain they have partial control of the city.
“Do not believe the rumors, lies and misinformation spread widely by the rebels; we have complete control,” Ibrahim said, adding that they would defend the city and its oil to the death.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese