Qaddafi Accepts Chávez Mediation Proposal

Published January 03, 2017

Libya's Muammar Qaddafi has accepted President Hugo Chávez's proposal that seeks to negotiate an end to the crisis in that country says Venezuela's Information Minister Andrés Izarra.

Izarra also claimed that the Arab League is studying Venezuela's proposal to send an international commission to Libya to talk with both the government and rebels, according to the Spanish wire service EFE.

In earlier statements the chairman of the rebel National Libyan Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, entirely rejected the concept of talks with Qaddafi.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who has forged close ties with Qaddafi, and who has refrained from condemning him for his crackdown on protesters, spoke with the Libyan leader on Tuesday, said Izarra said through Twitter.

Venezuela has reached out to its allies in Latin America and elsewhere to discuss the creation of a Qaddafi-friendly bloc of nations to mediate the crisis.

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Venezuela's Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro criticized U.S. and European Union officials for adopting policies aimed at isolating Qaddafi and raising the possibility of providing military support to Libyans rebelling against the embattled leader.

Such policies "point at giving the 'empire' authorization for an invasion against the Libyan people," Maduro said, according to the state-run AVN news agency.

Chávez —who shares with Qaddafi a mutual animosity towards the United States— has said he won't cave into international pressure to condemn Qaddafi and he has warned that Washington is preparing a military invasion of Libya.

Chávez has built close ties with Libya and has visited the country several times.

Qaddafi awarded Chávez in 2004 with the Libyan leader's annual human rights prize for battling "the effects of imperialism and the enemies of freedom inside and outside" Venezuela.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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