Tunisia: US state department has said that US officials have held with representatives of Col Muammar Gaddafi’s government.
In the meeting, the US reiterated its demand that Col Gaddafi leave Libya.
A spokesman for Gaddafi said that the Libyan government only supported the dialogue which was free from preconditions.
In a statement, the US state department said officials had given representatives of Col Gaddafi a “clear and firm” message that the Libyan leader had to go.
“The message was simple and unambiguous – Gaddafi must leave power so that a new political process can begin that reflects the will and aspirations of the Libyan people,” it said.
Libya said that the talks took place on Saturday in Tunisia.
We will discuss everything but do not condition your peace talks. Let the Libyans decide their future” said Libyan spokesman Moussa Ibrahim.
The spokesman termed the talks as an important step in “repairing relations” with the US.
“We support any dialogue, any peace initiative as long as they don’t decide Libya’s future from without,” he said.
“We will discuss everything but do not condition your peace talks. Let the Libyans decide their future,” he added.
Washington said that Jeffrey Feltman, the US assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, and the US ambassador to Libya Gene Cretz, had been involved in the talks, but would not say who represented the Libyan side.
American officials said no further talks were planned “because the message has been delivered”.
US forces have been involved in military action in Libya since the UN in March passed resolution 1973, which permitted intervention to protect Libyan civilians against Col Gaddafi.
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