Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, who was educated in the UK, has proposed a solution to end the conflict in Libya. It would entail his father transitioning power to a constitutional democracy under Saif al-Islam’s interim direction, a diplomatic source said.
Britain, the United States and Turkey are also working on a plan to end more than seven weeks of fighting between forces loyal to the Libyan leader and an armed uprising intent upon terminating his 42 years in control.
The revelations came as Abdelati Obeidi, Libya’s Deputy Foreign Minister, arrived in Athens to deliver a message from Colonel Gaddafi to the Greek Prime Minister.
The diplomatic source revealed that “eminent people” have been talking about Dr Gaddafi’s proposal — one of a number of possible ways out of the conflict. He warned, however, that neither the Libyan leader nor the rebel council in Benghazi appeared ready to accept such a move.
“This is the beginning position [for both sides],” the source said. “But the beginning [of talks] has not commenced. The opposition have created their own government, they have declared their own constitution. It seems that they will not accept this kind of proposal coming from the Gaddafi family.”
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A second source, with close links to the regime, agreed that it was probably too late for Colonel Gaddafi’s most internationally recognisable son — who earned his doctorate at the London School of Economics — to be welcomed by the opposition fighters after he gave an uncharacteristically hardline speech in the early days of the conflict.
The second source noted, however, that Britain and France might be able to exert pressure on the rebels to work for some sort of compromise. A comment was not immediately available from the Libyan Government on the issue.
Mohamed Ismail, a close aide to Dr Gaddafi, was said to be travelling back to Tripoli after spending the past few days in London to discuss ways to end the fighting.
“The idea was to find an exit solution under Saif. He was working on a plan.” the diplomatic source said.
The source also revealed that Britain, France and other key powers were seeking a solution to stop the bloodshed.
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“The international community is working for a political solution. This is an important thing,” he said.
Any endgame would need to involve the removal of Colonel Gaddafi, according to the source, who noted that such a move was made harder by the travel bans and the International Criminal Court’s decision to investigate the regime for crimes against humanity.
“He will think that on the road they will catch him so he will stay in his country and fight,” the source said, warning that the fighting might not stop until Colonel Gaddafi’s forces run out of ammunition.