France denies direct talks with Libyan government
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Xinhua, July 11, 2011
French Foreign Ministry said Monday the country has made indirect contact with Libyan government in Tripoli, but denied the two governments had any direct talks.
"France favors a political solution as it has always said. There is no direct negotiation between France and the Gaddafi regime but we send messages through CNT (rebels' National Transition Council) and our allies", the ministry said in a statement.
"These messages are simple and clear: any political solution requires the removal of Gaddafi from power and renunciation of any political role," it added.
Monday's statement came after Libyan government leader Muammar Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam told an Algerian newspaper that direct negotiations were held between the Libyan President and France.
"We are in fact holding real negotiations with France and not with the rebels," Seif al-Islam said during the interview with the Algerian daily El Khabar late Saturday.
Meanwhile, Paris, which pressed for military operations in Libya, urged talks between the Libyan rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces.
Speaking to the local radio Europe1, French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet cited the talks as an ultimate condition to end foreign military operations in Libya, adding that "there is no solution by force."
"They have now to sit around a table...We'll stop the bombing when the Libyans talk to each other and the military forces on all sides return to their barracks," Longuet said.
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