Africa: Libya sends emmisaries to EU as it tries to enlists military help from Egypt

PJ: As the US threatens military intervention, Libya sends envoys to EU for emergency meetings as well as sending Military envoy to Egypt to enlist military support against rebels (see story from Egypt's AL-MASRY AL-YOUM below).

Al Jazeera

Libya despatches emissaries
Emissaries holding talks with EU officials in Brussels while deputy defence minister arrives in Cairo.

Libyan envoys are in talks with European Union officials in Brussels, the Belgian capital, while the Libyan deputy defence minister has arrived in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, Al Jazeera has learnt.

The delegation in Brussels is also expected to meet NATO officials in the coming days.

The European Union's 27 foreign ministers will be meeting in Brussels on Thursday in advance of a crisis summit on Libya.

Separately, defence ministers from the 28-member NATO alliance will also gather in Brussels to weigh options on Libya following calls for a no-fly zone to be enforced over the north African country.

Earlier on Wednesday, at least three private jets belonging to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi took off from a military airstrip outside the capital, Tripoli.

There were reports that Abdelrahman al-Zawi, the Libyan deputy defence minister on his way to Cairo, was carrying a message from Gaddafi and was to meet Amr Moussa, head of the Arab League.

The state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper said al-Zawi was to meet the military council which is ruling Egypt.

Military council meeting

Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Cairo, said the private jet landed on a military airstrip around 1pm local time, carrying al-Zawi and an official.

"As soon as the plane landed, those on board ... were immediately whisked away by private cars," he said.

He said Essam Sharaf, the Egyptian prime minister, cut a cabinet meeting short to go to a meeting with the Egyptian military council.

The Arab League is due to meet on Saturday to discuss the possibility of imposing a no-fly zone over Libya. Libyan delegates have been barred from attending the League's meetings addressing the situation in the country.

Karl Stango-Navarra, a journalist based in Valletta, Malta, told Al Jazeera that a delegation of Libyan officials had met senior Maltese officials on Wednesday before continuing to Portugal.

"We have an escalating diplomatic situation where Gaddafi seems to be seeking his friends in the sense of who is closest, both in terms of trade and political ties, so he can can find a solution to the situation," he said.

An EU source said "there is a plane going to Portugal with a moderate member" of the Gaddafi regime.

The emissary was planning to meet Luis Amado, the Portuguese foreign minister, according to the source.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/20113911921436551.html

AL-MASRY AL-YOUM

Libya seeks Egyptian military assistance against rebels

A high-ranking member of the Libyan military, Major General Abdul Rahman al-Zawi arrived in Cairo on Thursday with a message for the Supreme Council of Armed Forces from Libyan President Muammar Qadhafi, requesting military help in facing rebels.
Dissident Libyan diplomats told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the message included threats that Qadhafi would expel hundreds of thousands of Egyptian workers from Libya in the event that Egypt sides with the Libyan anti-government rebels.
The diplomats went on to say that al-Zawi, who is a member of the so-called Free Officers Movement that helped bring Qadhafi to power in 1969, plans to tell Egypt's Supreme Council of Armed Forces that the fate of nearly one million Egyptian workers in Libya depends on support for the Qadhafi regime.

Al-Zawi, the head of Libya's logistics and supply authority, will request military assistance, including equipment, ammunition and weapons, according to the diplomats. Egyptian officials did not comment on the visit, but the diplomats described the mission as "blackmail," while doubting the Egyptian military would respond to any requests from Qadhafi.

Libyan-Egyptian relations coordinator Ahmad Qadhafi al-Dam had previously failed to persuade Arab tribes of Libyan descent in the border areas to support Qadhafi.
Al-Zawai arrived via private jet to Cairo International Airport on Wednesday afternoon and was received by a number of Libyan diplomats.

The diplomats said the plane landed near the reception hall reserved for senior officials and that reporters were not allowed access to the Libyan official.

Translated from the Arabic Edition.

http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/346282