Libya 'ceasefire talks under way'
Libyan deputy foreign minister hints at ongoing secret talks between UK representatives and Gaddafi's government.
Secret channels are being opened between the Libyan government of Muammar Gaddafi and British representatives over a possible ceasefire, sources have told Al Jazeera.
Abdelati al-Obeidi, the Libyan deputy foreign minister, who has been leading the government's diplomacy after Musa Kousa, the foreign minister, defected, gave hints on Saturday to Al Jazeera's James Bays about the secret talks to end the war.
The Al Jazeera correspondent, who spoke to al-Obeidi on a flight to the southern Tunisian town of Djerba, said the Libyan official was quite guarded in his approach and said that "he really was not authorised to tell me what had taken place at this meeting".
"The deputy foreign minister did admit that he had come for talks which have been taking place with British officials. He could not say what the talks were about but did say it was an exchange of views and a channel of communication being opened by them," he said.
Though he denied that there was any talk of an exit strategy for Gaddafi, he said the government was willing to talk to the opposition in Benghazi, our correspondent said.
He quoted al-Obeidi as saying: "We want to end this war and we want to end soon."
"It is an indication of British agenda playing quite a leading role here, and in this behind-the-scene process, probably British diplomats or members of MI6 may be involved. Remember they [MI6] were also involved in Kousa's defection about two months ago," our correspondent said.
Low-key response
The response from Britain has been reasonably low key, Al Jazeera's Bays said.
"I have talked to a representative of the British foreign ministry, a spokeswoman, who said there have been no talks with British diplomats. She said 'they were aware that meetings had taken place with the minister and British citizens but made it clear that they were not civil servants and not diplomats'."
The reports of the ceasefire talks came just hours after NATO carried out a rare day-time air raid on the capital, Tripoli.