Qaddafi Envoy Meets Greek Leader; U.S. Extends Air Raids

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Qaddafi Envoy Meets Greek Leader; U.S. Extends Air Raids

April 04, 2011, 2:55 AM EDT

By S. Green and Petrakis

(Updates crude price in fourth paragraph. See EXTRA and MET for more on unrest

in the Mideast and North Africa.)

April 4 (Bloomberg) -- Muammar Qaddafi's acting foreign minister met with

Greece's prime minister in what the government in Athens described as an attempt

to find a political solution to hostilities in Libya.

" It appears that the regime is also seeking a solution, " Greek Foreign Minister

Dimitris Droutsas said in a statement, referring to Qaddafi's government, after

Abdul Ati al-Obeidi met with Papandreou. The talks followed " a series of

contacts over recent days " involving Greek and Libyan officials, including the

countries' prime ministers, which led to al-Obeidi's Athens trip, Droutsas said.

Al-Obeidi also plans to visit Malta and Turkey, he said.

The talks come as rebel forces have been struggling for more than a month to

take and hold strategic cities in the center of the country. The U.S., U.K. and

other allies have stepped up diplomacy as well as air strikes in an attempt to

avoid a stalemate that might draw NATO members further into the six-week-old

conflict. Fighting continued in the besieged rebel- held city of Misrata on

Sunday, as pro-Qaddafi forces fired mortars and tank shells, the Associated

Press reported, citing a hospital official.

The Libyan rebellion against Qaddafi's rule has sent oil prices up about 25

percent since it began, heightening concerns over Middle East supplies. Crude

for May delivery gained as much as 80 cents to $108.74 a barrel in electronic

trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest since Sept. 24, 2008,

and was at $108.30 at 11:56 a.m. Singapore time.

Combat Missions

The U.S. Defense Department said that, at NATO's request, American strike

aircraft will continue to fly combat missions through tomorrow, according to a

release via Twitter.

NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said that, because of poor weather over the last

few days, the Atlantic alliance asked the U.S. to push back its transition to a

purely supporting role in the campaign to enforce a UN-mandated no-fly zone and

to protect civilians from attacks.

The U.S. plans to have its attack aircraft on standby, ready to resume flights

if necessary, while U.S. command and control aircraft and Navy ships remain in

action around Libya, Defense Secretary Gates said in March 31 testimony

to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Papandreou has talked with the prime ministers of the U.K., Turkey, Qatar and

Libya since April 1, his office said in a statement yesterday.

`Serious Attempt'

" It is necessary for there to be a serious attempt for peace, for stability in

the region, " the Greek foreign minister said.

The U.K. sent a second team of diplomats to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, in

eastern Libya, to meet with opposition leaders there, according to an e-mailed

statement from the British Foreign Office.

African Union Commission Chairman Ping will meet with European and NATO

officials in London and Brussels through April 5 " to further explore ways and

means of resolving the crisis in Libya, " the AU said in a release.

A son of Qaddafi, Saif al-Islam, is proposing a plan in which his father would

relinquish power to his son, the New York Times reported yesterday, citing an

unidentified diplomat with close ties to the government. Neither Qaddafi nor the

rebels appear ready to accept the proposal, the newspaper cited the diplomat as

saying.

`No Prospect'

" There's no prospect on anyone's list of acceptable outcomes that Qaddafi stay, "

said , a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia and an adjunct

fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington.

" Is he really ready to hand over to those sons and get out of the country? It

strikes me as unlikely at this point, " said in an interview. " I don't

think he's given up on running the country. "

The conflict in Libya is the bloodiest of uprisings in the Middle East and North

Africa that have ousted longtime rulers in Egypt and Tunisia and sparked

protests in Bahrain, Yemen and Syria.

The six-member Gulf ation Council said yesterday that it would hold talks

with Yemen's government and opposition parties in an effort to overcome that

country's political crisis, according to a statement distributed at the end of a

GCC foreign ministers meeting in Riyadh yesterday.

--With assistance from Alison Fitzgerald and Zaid Sabah Abd Alhamid in

Washington, Neuger in Brussels, Zahra Hankir, Zainab Fattah and Tamara

Walid in Dubai and Hamilton. Mike on and Caroline in

London. Editor: Bob Drummond, Louis Meixler, Ben Holland.