Gonzi tells Libya envoy that 'Gaddafi must go' and country must open to democracy

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has told Libya's deputy foreign minister Abdelati Obeidi that 'Gaddafi must go' and that the Libyan people's wish for democracy must be respected.

4 April 2011, 12:00am
by Karl Stagno-Navarra

2 min read

The Prime Minister who emerged from Castille after a 45 minute meeting with Obeidi who travelled to Malta from Ankara after meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, stressed that the Maltese government was adamant in its position that the Libyan regim must respect the UN imposed resolutions, and that there was no room for either Gaddafi nor any other member of his family to aspire to rule Libya."

Speaking to reporters, Gonzi made no mention of any request for mediation in the Libya crisis, and insisted on not mentioning any of the proposals put forward by Obeidi who was serving as an emissary for Gaddafi.

Earlier in the day, Lawrence Gonzi had stressed that Malta insists that troops loyal to Gaddafi must stop their offensive, and expressed his disgust at the violent offensive by Gaddafi troops on innocent civilians in Misurata.

Obeidi met with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and details of that meeting have remained undisclosed.

Senior government sources have told MaltaToday that Obeidi asked Malta to act as a mediator together with Greece to end the violence, while there are also a "set of proposals" which Tripoli wants to present to Malta and to convey to the European Union in a bid to halt the conflict.

Obeidi's diplomatic mission that started on Sunday in Athens by meeting Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and stressed Libya's intent to stop the fighting.

Obeidi's trip to Athens came after Papandreou spoke to his Libyan counterpart Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmudi on Saturday about developments on the crisis.

Papandreou has also held discussions on the telephone with British Prime Minister David Cameron and the leaders of Qatar and Turkey in the last two days.

Obeidi had crossed from Libya into neighbouring Tunisia and from there flew to Athens, a source said.

His departure had sparked rumours he was following in the footsteps of Gaddafi's former foreign minister Musa Kusa who fled to London via Tunisia a few days ago.

But news that Obeidi was delivering a message from his leader has raised hopes of a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

His departure came on the same day government forces bombarded two towns southwest of Libya's capital Tripoli, killing at least two people and wounding many more, according to eyewitnesses.

Obeidi's visit to Malta follows another visit by an envoy dispatched by Gaddafi a few weeks ago, whereby Malta was asked to intervene as a mediator to the crisis.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had turned down that offer. It is unknown if Malta will accept the offer this time, after Greece has reportedly accepted to act as a mediator to end the crisis.

Meanwhile Italy's foreign Minister Franco Frattini has branded Obeidi's proposals as "not credible."

More from Karl Stagno-Navarra

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@vcas1 Right your are. Your description of the local situation is both succinct and accurate. Gonzi is not for real. Lying through the teeth as he is apt to do on a regular basis, he cannot be believed on relied upon in any situation let alone the current delicate one. If he was he own man he might finally come round to see the truth but the man depends on the whims and fancies of certain EU circles that send him their orders via the Cardinal. In the old days the Cardinal had the Homintern behind him. Nowadays he has other occult cells within cells. Some of these may go up directly to Manuel Barroso. But this passage is too 'obscure' to trace with certitude. John Dalli may eventually be able to tell us more about this. Not to worry. He has two years to tell us all. Even if it will be delivered in the eleventh hour the information will be able to guide us in our voting decisions. That will spell the end of the Cardinal's Regime. So, don't lose heart, just hang on till then and we'll celebrate the Cardinal's fall and all.

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Next general election cliche: . Gonzi is COOL , Gonzi is MACHO

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Filwaqt illi nifhem x'qieghed jipprova jghid il-PM, jiddispjacini imma ma tantx ghandu ideja tal-hsieb socjali fil-pajjizi Gharab. F'sistema fejn l-organizzazzjoni socjali hija wahda tribali, tkun qieghed tghid il-hmerijiet meta tghid li trid tinfetah ghad-demokrazzija...u din tapplika ghall-pajjizi Gharab kollha. Araw ftit x'gara l-Iraq! Fuq nota differenti, nistaqsi lill-PM jekk Malta ghandniex verament demokrazzija prattikanti ghax il-mod kif igib ruhu hu qisu arciTaliban!...charity starts at home Prim!

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Nerga nghid malta ghandha cans tara li l-gwerra tieqaf u kull ftehim ghandu jigi madwar il-mejda. Gonzi tkunx bezziegh jew zarbun tat-taljani, l-inglizi u l-francizi....dawn kollha ghandhom ghajnhom fuq il-concessions taz-zejt biex jahtfu z-zejt libjan. l-interess ta malta hu li l-gwerra tieqaf.....tajjeb li wiehed izid li l-un resolution ma kien fiha xejn li gaddhafi irid jitlaq...dak jarawh il-libjani...la ahna u lanqas hadd ma ghandu jindahal f'pajjiz sovran... ha nerga nghidlek malta ghandha cans u jaqbel ghal malta li l-gwerra tieqaf...jekk ikollna pajjiz instabbli hdejna kollox ibati...it-turizmu...il-kummerc..u xi ftit iehor id-deficit..

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@Fellus ta' Gahan "DCG does not want Malta to mediate. DCG only writes/says what RCC wants her to write/say. Therefore RCC does not want Malta to mediate. Therefore Malta will not mediate." Your syllogism is perfect, Fellus. It also epitomizes the overall situation in Malta. We are living under a dictatorship and the guy at the helm does not even reside in Malta. On second thoughts shouldn't we start thinking of mobilizing. Where is our Benghazi? We could start from there with a view to attacking and seizing Valletta. The only snag: we have no oil, so we can't expect any Sarko`-like tough guy assisting us in our Jasmine Revolution. We can only rely on Tony Zarb. He may actually look like an armoured tank but he's too slow on the uptake, what?

Helenio Galea •

Now we're talking. For those who think that Gaddafi could ever be trusted to keep his word again (never did) I wonder how you would be thinking if it was your wives, children, parents and friends a dictatorial regime had been kidnapping, maiming and killing for 4 decades. Using whatever stance the government takes to extract political points and degrade Gonzi is just plain selfish.

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Dik medjazzjoni!!!!!!!! Huwa min jistaqsik biex timmedja bejniethom tghidlu li jrid jitlaq? Are veru ghandna Prim Ministru li lanqas jaf x'inhija diplomazija. Trid tkun tassew imgebbed bl-ispag minn haddiehor biex tghid u tagixxi hekk. Ghad hawn min jahseb li l-Prim Ministru mhux imgebbed bl-ispag mill-UE?

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Nispera li l-Gvern kellem lill-oppozizzjoni fuq din wkoll u nispera li ma tkellmux fuq xi haga ohra u ahna ma nafux...... wehidom kienu???!!!

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u le mhux hekk, din mhux xi laqgha b'hal l-ohrajn, din hija haga gravissima ta gwerra u b'xi mod zgur ser tolqot lil pajjizna, issa wara naraw, ma hemmx x'tghamel issa...

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milamist imma jahasra kif dejjem hsibkom fil blu jew ahmar. jiena minix laburist anzi ex PN. li ridt nghid huwa li huwa minnu li Lawprence Gonzi huwa l-PM. Imma kieku kien ikun ahjar li lawrence Gonzi tkellem ma JM U bhal Arniold Cassola haga gravi bhal din is-sitwazzjoni , ghaliex le? Imma kik kollox blue u ahmar , ma nafx jien RESIST OR SERVE!

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I have a strong feeling that this Gonzi of ours is going to put us into sh*t!

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Until such time as the army and the brigades leave all the cities and go back to their barracks, there is no chance of any meetings between the regime and the opposition or any role for mediators. The opposition have already said this Unfortunately, the regime's declarations of ceasefire were just ignored by the army and the attacks on towns did not cease.This happened on more than one occasion so much so that Ban Ki Moon stated that such declarations needed to be thoroughly verified by the UN before any action is taken.

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I agree, to demand there should be a ceasefire is recommandable, but only if could be properly monitored and enforced. gonzi is only playing for the gallery because he knows that these two requirements cannot be easily met once again like the divorce issue gonzi is playing Pilate by washing his hands from the whole affair with his demand. The guy is so predictable.

duncan abela •

I fully agree that a ceasefire is an essential first step to mediation. However a ceasefire demands that both the gaddafi oyalists and the rebels stop shooting at each other to create a space in which guns and air raids fall silent so that meaningful peaceful negotiations can take place and solutions explored . A ceasefire cannot be one-sided and both sides must simultaneously strictly adhere to it and not seek to take advantage to move their current positions forward or try to occupy territory in the control of the other side. Proper mechanisms must also be put on the ground to monitor such a ceasefire. Ideally through countries whio did not tke sides so far.

mario grillo •

falzonsilvio: jigifieri jekk sentejn ohra jkun hemm joseph tieghek fil-gvern, se tghid l-istess haga? se tghidlu biex jinkludi lill-Kap ta' l-Opposizzjoni tal-gurnata fl-laqghat li huma responsabbilita' tal-Gvern li jkun fihom??

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I had stressed it the first time round that if gonzi had taken up the requet maybe, and I say maybe, things would have been different today and many lives saved. This maybe hangs heavily on gonzi's conscience because he could have acted but did not, only then the violence had not escalated as it is now. That is what happens when one is not man enough to act on his own behalf but takes his orders from the EU heavy weights. Don't botch it up again gonz , one thing for certain you ain't going to be a Noble Prize Winner for Peace at any time soon or ever.

duncan abela •

A ceasefire and mediiation are the only way forward. Each day this inconclusive conflict protracts itself the less likely is reconciliation going to be achieved between the two Libyan sides in strife. Experience has shown that civil war creates hate and rancour which takes generations to be forgotten. Without an urgent negotiated peace the Libyan infrastucture will continue to be destroyed by the "humanitarian" bombing from the air. We must as a nation remain on the side of the peacemakers and strive to make peace happen and not perpetuate war. Given our size our initiatives can only be in convincing other nations especially the noncommitted European ones to join a peace making effort which probably will need to be headed by Turkey a country which has all the qualifications needed to take the leading role as a peacemaker. The senior Gaddafi will probably have to go but the untainted loyalists who support him must have a role in a future democratic Libya just as much as the rebels

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iss kemm int bravu michael , min huma AD U PL? kemm qedghin sew ukoll.. Mela xi haga ta nteress nazzjonali mhux kollha ghandom jiddeciedu flimkien. x'kull wahda wkoll , min huma AD U l-PL. Mela ghax qedghdin fl-oppozizzjoni mhux fl-interess tal-pajjiz jew. Ara veru kulur wiehed biss jaraw ta certu min- nies Basta jkun tal-partit taghkom , hemm hekk kollox yes sir.

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Sig. Frattini has this afternoon stated that Italy is recognising the Libyan opposition council and that Gaddafi must go. So Malta's mediation is useless now!

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@ Michael001 You have a very strange idea of what democracy is.

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DCG does not want Malta to mediate. DCG only writes/says what RCC wants her to write/say. Therefore RCC does not want Malta to mediate. Therefore Malta will not mediate.

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So once again, Joseph Muscat was correct when he urged that Malta should mediate for peace..the Greek PM is in agreement. As time goes by, JM looks more and more as the new PM in waiting. Well done Joseph.

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Better late than never. Malta has a chance to win win situation...It is in our national interest that this war stops....we have a chance again to be part of the solution....the only solution is around the table...just take everyone around the table and start negotiations immediately...

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This is the way forward; it a civil war with no winners and only losers. If the Brits put troops on ground, it would be a point of no return, where the politicians would do all their best to win political points. There is enough strife around the world to keep NATO in business for an other century! Africa can only be normalised and weternised through industrialisation, if large tracts of Africa are leased to Western people and companies for say a decade or two, with a lot of strings attached- but still capable of giving decent returns to the investors.African people will have their land back with a trained workforce and democratic experience well enthrenched into the African pysch. In the meantime democratic and parliamentary fair play are suggested to the Africans. This is a short cut to all the civil wars in Africa; giving young people a chance to build a future in their homeland without dangerous journeys to Europe.

Albert Zammit •

@ falzonsilvio: Tghidx hmerijiet! Who are the Leader of the Opposition and AD leader? They are nobodies, taf, ara tahseb? They have no standing at all, except in this country, perhaps. But that's all! It's who is PM that counts!

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If Dr Gonzi refuses to mediate he will be showing the world that his strings are being pulled by foreign interests who do not want a peaceful solution to the situation in Libya.

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I belive the opposition leader JM and alternattiva demokratika Leader should be included in the talks.

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Mr.Prime Minister, You have to do this for , Do not refuse again to mediate. If there wil be no poitical solutions in Libya, there wil be another Iraq or afganisthan

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This is a golden opportunity for us to mediate in this war which is endangering the Mediterranean region, especially Malta, due to our close proximity to Libya. We need not be stubborn and kiss the EU's behind in this matter. When we need them, they're always finding excuses so screw them and let us forge our own destiny. If they want to fight, we dont. We prefer being diplomats, mediators of the Mediterranean Region.

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Malta should rise to the occasion and not lose such a golden opportunity to show its statehood as well as effectively to contribute to putting an end to the bloodshed. The Prime Minister is doing well to consult with Cameron and not with Sarkozy. Cameron cannot be accused of having oil interests in the fortunes of Libya. Sarkozy is another story altogether. Ask Obama, Merkel, even Berlusconi and they'll tell you, not now of course, but when they come to write their autobiographies.