Libyan Contact Group To Meet In Paris
By RFE RL
(RFE/RL) — Sixty world leaders and senior envoys meet in Paris today to discuss the future of Libya.
The meeting of the Contact Group on Libya is likely to focus on unfreezing billions in Libyan funds held abroad.
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain host the event at which senior members of Libya’s National Transitional Council are due to attend.
The rebels say they control most of the country and now need $5 billion to set up a stable government.
The meeting comes as China’s top official newspaper, “The People’s Daily,” warned Western powers to let the United Nations lead postwar reconstruction in Libya.
China is sending a minister to the meeting in Paris.
Qaddafi: Whereabouts Unknown
Back in Libya, conflicting messages are coming from two sons of Muammar Qaddafi whose whereabouts are still unknown.
One son, Saif al-Islam, vowed to fight on in an audio message broadcast on the Syrian-owned Arrai satellite TV channel.
Saif al-Islam warned the rebels against attacking Qaddafi loyalists in his father’s hometown of Sirte, saying “20,000 armed men are in the town and ready to fight.”
The rebels have vowed an all-out assault on Sirte and some surrounding villages on September 3 if Qaddafi backers don’t surrender by then.
However, another of Qaddafi’s sons, Saadi, said he had contacted Libya’s National Transitional Council to try to stop the bloodshed.
Saadi told Al-Arabiya TV he had the authorization of his father.
In an interview with Reuters, the chief of anti-Qaddafi forces in Tripoli Abdel Hakim Belhadj said Saadi wants to join NTC forces if his safety is assured.
U.S. news network CNN earlier reported that Saadi denied he planned to surrender.
