TURKEY: NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen holds talks with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Istanbul
Record ID:
791508
TURKEY: NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen holds talks with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Istanbul
- Title: TURKEY: NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen holds talks with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Istanbul
- Date: 15th July 2011
- Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JULY 14, 2011) (REUTERS) ***CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** DUSK/NIGHT SHOTS EXTERIOR OF FERIYE RESTAURANT TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER AHMET DAVUTOGLU AND NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN LEAVING RESTAURANT RASMUSSEN AND DAVUTOGLU WALKING VARIOUS OF DAVUTOGLU SHAKING HANDS WITH RASMUSSEN DAVUTOGLU AND RASMUSSEN WALKING OFF
- Embargoed: 30th July 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Turkey, Turkey
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: Conflict
- Reuters ID: LVA9QRJJ8OJO5HMEA0098H24CKNK
- Story Text: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu held talks with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen over dinner on Thursday (July 14) ahead of a Libya contact group meeting.
Western powers and Arab states meeting in Istanbul on Friday (July 15) will seek a political solution to end the civil war in Libya, amid conflicting signals over whether Muammar Gaddafi intends to fight on or surrender power.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton are among more than a dozen foreign ministers participating in the Libyan contact group meeting -- the fourth since an emergency summit in London in March.
Heads of NATO, the Arab League, African Unity and Gulf Cooperation Council, will also attend along with representatives of the Libyan opposition.
The U.N. Secretary-General's special envoy on Libya, Abdel-Elah Al-Khatib, will report results of contacts with the beleaguered Gaddafi government in Tripoli and the rebel National Transitional Council based in the eastern city of Benghazi.
There will also be updates on the flow of financial and humanitarian assistance to the rebel-held areas.
Russian and China, two permanent members of the U.N. Security Council that have taken softer line on Gaddafi, were invited for a first time to attend a contact group meeting. But China has said it would skip the meeting while it was uncertain who Russia would send.
Gaddafi is resisting rebels' advances on Tripoli from the eastern desert and western mountains, and the drawn-out conflict and lack of substantive talks have frustrated NATO allies who are helping the rebels by enforcing a no-fly zone and bombing Gaddafi forces deemed a threat to civilians.
The international community wants to ensure that the oil and gas rich North African country of 6 million people emerges as a stable democracy rather than fall prey to ethnic or tribal conflict, or become a haven for Islamist militants.
Among items to be discussed in Istanbul will be a recommendation, made by a British-led team planning post-conflict Libya, for Gaddafi's security forces to be left in tact after a rebel victory in order to avoid errors made after the Iraq war.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said earlier this week that emissaries from Gaddafi's government were in contact with NATO members, and were saying that Gaddafi was ready to quit.
A crucial question, should Gaddafi agree to step down, will be whether he is allowed to stay in Libya or take refuge in a third country despite a U.N.-backed International Criminal Court investigation into crimes against his people. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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