Russia Meets W/NATO in New Push for Libyan Peace
Jul 5, 2011 12:17:33 GMT -5
Post by PrisonerOfHope on Jul 5, 2011 12:17:33 GMT -5
Russia Meets With NATO in New Push for Libyan Peace
By ANDREW E. KRAMER
Published: July 4, 2011
MOSCOW — Russia stepped up its efforts on Monday to negotiate a resolution to the war in Libya, with officials here receiving the president of South Africa, who has offered his services as a mediator, and the secretary general of NATO.
A Rebel Offer to Qaddafi: ‘Resign’ and Remain in Libya (July 4, 2011)
At the same time, the president of the World Chess Federation, who is acting as Moscow’s informal go-between with Libya’s embattled leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, made his second trip to Tripoli.
On his last visit, the chess official, Kirsan N. Ilyumzhinov, played a game with Colonel Qaddafi while discussing whether he would consider stepping down and leaving Libya. During the match, Mr. Ilyumzhinov said later, he maneuvered Colonel Qaddafi close to checkmate but then offered him a draw instead.
But in their conversation, Mr. Qaddafi said he intended to die on Libyan soil and would not consider any negotiated settlement that called for his departure from the country.
On Monday, Mr. Ilyumzhinov told Russian news agencies that he had met with Muhammad el-Qaddafi, the colonel’s eldest son, and had again been told that Colonel Qaddafi would not leave Libya. But the Libyan government acknowledged that its emissaries had met on numerous occasions in Europe with representatives of the Libyan opposition, and that the talks were continuing, Reuters reported.
The Russian diplomatic effort to open a channel of communication with the Libyan leader, who has been a major buyer of Russian weapons for years, began after President Dmitri A. Medvedev met with President Obama on the sidelines of a Group of 8 gathering in France in May.
At that meeting, Mr. Medvedev offered to serve as a mediator, and to use what leverage Russia has in Libya to persuade Colonel Qaddafi to cede power. To date, with the colonel refusing the Libyan rebels’ demands that he leave the country, none of Moscow’s forays have borne fruit.
Russia has sharply criticized the NATO bombing campaign as overstepping the United Nations’ mandate to protect civilians, instead apparently aiming to oust Colonel Qaddafi. Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned a recently confirmed French weapons airdrop to the Libyan rebels, saying this, too, violated the United Nations resolution. Mr. Medvedev has, however, said that Colonel Qaddafi must step down.
Sergei A. Karaganov, dean of the department of international economics and foreign affairs at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, said Russia is appealing to two constituencies. Its mediation efforts gains Moscow points with the West, while its criticism of the NATO campaign plays well in the developing world.
“It might bring results, but nobody knows,” Mr. Karaganov said. “The game, of course, includes Qaddafi. And if he has proven one thing, it is that he is not an easy person to deal with. He doesn’t respond to threats.”
“And by the way,” Mr. Karaganov added of Colonel Qaddafi and Russia, “he is profoundly distrusted here. We know him better than others.”
After Monday’s meeting with the NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, at a Russian government retreat surrounded by palm trees in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, Mr. Medvedev offered encouraging words but no specifics.
“I think all of us are inspired with the results,” he said, the Interfax news agency reported. “The meeting was rather productive, and I hope we made progress.”
Mr. Medvedev also met Monday with Jacob G. Zuma, the president of South Africa, who has negotiated on behalf of the African Union and proposed that an interim government take power in Libya, Russian state television reported. At a meeting over the weekend, the African Union called on its members to disregard an arrest warrant for Colonel Qaddafi issued by the International Criminal Court, saying the warrant could hinder any settlement that included Mr. Qaddafi seeking asylum outside of Libya
www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/world/europe/05russia.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss
By ANDREW E. KRAMER
Published: July 4, 2011
MOSCOW — Russia stepped up its efforts on Monday to negotiate a resolution to the war in Libya, with officials here receiving the president of South Africa, who has offered his services as a mediator, and the secretary general of NATO.
A Rebel Offer to Qaddafi: ‘Resign’ and Remain in Libya (July 4, 2011)
At the same time, the president of the World Chess Federation, who is acting as Moscow’s informal go-between with Libya’s embattled leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, made his second trip to Tripoli.
On his last visit, the chess official, Kirsan N. Ilyumzhinov, played a game with Colonel Qaddafi while discussing whether he would consider stepping down and leaving Libya. During the match, Mr. Ilyumzhinov said later, he maneuvered Colonel Qaddafi close to checkmate but then offered him a draw instead.
But in their conversation, Mr. Qaddafi said he intended to die on Libyan soil and would not consider any negotiated settlement that called for his departure from the country.
On Monday, Mr. Ilyumzhinov told Russian news agencies that he had met with Muhammad el-Qaddafi, the colonel’s eldest son, and had again been told that Colonel Qaddafi would not leave Libya. But the Libyan government acknowledged that its emissaries had met on numerous occasions in Europe with representatives of the Libyan opposition, and that the talks were continuing, Reuters reported.
The Russian diplomatic effort to open a channel of communication with the Libyan leader, who has been a major buyer of Russian weapons for years, began after President Dmitri A. Medvedev met with President Obama on the sidelines of a Group of 8 gathering in France in May.
At that meeting, Mr. Medvedev offered to serve as a mediator, and to use what leverage Russia has in Libya to persuade Colonel Qaddafi to cede power. To date, with the colonel refusing the Libyan rebels’ demands that he leave the country, none of Moscow’s forays have borne fruit.
Russia has sharply criticized the NATO bombing campaign as overstepping the United Nations’ mandate to protect civilians, instead apparently aiming to oust Colonel Qaddafi. Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned a recently confirmed French weapons airdrop to the Libyan rebels, saying this, too, violated the United Nations resolution. Mr. Medvedev has, however, said that Colonel Qaddafi must step down.
Sergei A. Karaganov, dean of the department of international economics and foreign affairs at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, said Russia is appealing to two constituencies. Its mediation efforts gains Moscow points with the West, while its criticism of the NATO campaign plays well in the developing world.
“It might bring results, but nobody knows,” Mr. Karaganov said. “The game, of course, includes Qaddafi. And if he has proven one thing, it is that he is not an easy person to deal with. He doesn’t respond to threats.”
“And by the way,” Mr. Karaganov added of Colonel Qaddafi and Russia, “he is profoundly distrusted here. We know him better than others.”
After Monday’s meeting with the NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, at a Russian government retreat surrounded by palm trees in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, Mr. Medvedev offered encouraging words but no specifics.
“I think all of us are inspired with the results,” he said, the Interfax news agency reported. “The meeting was rather productive, and I hope we made progress.”
Mr. Medvedev also met Monday with Jacob G. Zuma, the president of South Africa, who has negotiated on behalf of the African Union and proposed that an interim government take power in Libya, Russian state television reported. At a meeting over the weekend, the African Union called on its members to disregard an arrest warrant for Colonel Qaddafi issued by the International Criminal Court, saying the warrant could hinder any settlement that included Mr. Qaddafi seeking asylum outside of Libya
www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/world/europe/05russia.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss
