Arab Diplomats say it is a matter of time before the Libyan regime of Muammar Gaddafi is out, reports Dina Ezzat "We are working very hard to encourage all the Libyan parties to accept a political solution to the current crisis in Libya. We are talking to all the parties and trying to find an agreement," said Ahmed bin Helli, deputy secretary-general of the Arab League. Bin Helli told Al-Ahram Weekly that "a paper of political proposals is being drafted currently" in collective efforts that bring together the Arab League, the African Union, the UN and other concerned parties. Yesterday, high-level representatives from these organisations along with representatives of the European Union and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference met at the Cairo headquarters of the Arab League to discuss a package of political proposals that could pave the way for an end to the crisis in Libya. The crux of the package is to exclude the military solution and to pursue an exit for Colonel Muammar Gaddafi that would allow an immediate ceasefire and political transition. "This political solution would be based on achieving a credible and monitored ceasefire linked to a political process, through a transitional period, which will enable the Libyan people to achieve their democratic aspirations and legitimate demands," read the political communiqué issued by the four-hour meeting. According to an African delegate, the option is still open for Libyan leader Gaddafi to step down and leave the country, allowing political integration between Benghazi, currently controlled by the revolution forces and Tripoli. This, he said, is the only way to end the current bloody conflict that is weighing down hard on the Libyan people. Demonstrations against the rule of Gaddafi started in Libya around mid-February. Gaddafi met the demonstrations with bloody coercive measures and resorted to military force. Two weeks later the Arab League suspended Libya's participation in all its activities to reprimand the regime in Tripoli, in rule for some four decades. Then the Arab League adopted a resolution demanding the imposition of a no-fly zone through the UN Security Council. As of the third week of March, the US, then NATO, launched military strikes to halt Gaddafi's military operations against the Libyan people. Now, a Cairo-based European diplomat said, negotiations are underway with Gaddafi to convince him to leave Libya. The African Union is doing a lot of work on this front, he added. Bin Helli said that another meeting of the concerned international and regional organisations would happen this month (June) to follow up on responses received by participating organisations from the Libyan parties. The Arab League official argued that the first step that should be agreed on is a UN observed ceasefire in conjunction with an end to the siege imposed on several Libyan cities. Once this is achieved, Bin Helli added, humanitarian organisations should be allowed immediate access. He added that there should begin "a transitional phase to a new regime that corresponds to the demands of the Libyan people for democracy and development". Any transitional phase, Bin Helli insists, would have to be managed by "representatives of all the Libyan people in the east and the west, and of all the tribes". While the Arab League official declined to comment on the fate of Gaddafi in this scenario, a Western diplomat emphatically said that "Colonel Gaddafi knows by now full well that he has no place in [future plans for Libya]." He added that the longer it takes the Libyan ruler to accept this fact, and to act upon it, the harder he makes it for himself and his family to find the exit out of Libya "that they would like to have". On Tuesday, mediating South African President Jacob Zuma said that Gaddafi is willing to settle for a truce. Zuma was talking following a meeting in Tripoli with the Libyan ruler. Leaders of the opposition declined any offer that entails the continuation of Gaddafi in power, or in Libya. The details of a proposed truce, however, are not easy to agree on among the parties, suggested Bin Helli. He added that if sufficient guarantees are provided for all concerned, the end of the Libyan crisis could be a matter of time.
