Journalist: Without a doubt, Mr. Abdulati al-Obeidi is one of the persons of the day. Acting Foreign Minister of Libya, he was sent to Athens to meet yesterday evening with Prime Minister George Papandreou and Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas. A beam of light, according to Mr. Droutsas, in the sense that Libya appears to be looking for a way out. We have Mr. Droutsas on the line. Good morning, Mr. Droutas.
Mr. Droutsas: Good morning.
Journalist: Hello. Can you describe this way out? At least theoretically?
Mr. Droutsas: Mr. Kyrtsos, first of all I want to stress that Greece said from the very outset – the Prime Minister said it at the Paris meeting, where the decision was made to launch operations against Libya: we said that the efforts toward a diplomatic solution have to be continued. And, as always, Greece offered its good offices, due not only to our geographical position, but also to the contacts and relations we have with the Arab world as a whole. As you know, in recent days there have been contacts with various figures, including with the Prime Minister of Libya, and it was out of that contact of Prime Minister Papandreou that we had this mission of the Libyan special envoy in Athens.
Journalist: In your appraisal, Mr. Droutsas, does the Qaddafi regime at this time have a realistic view of how things stand, or do they still think they are running the game?
Mr. Droutsas: Look, we had what I would call an open and sincere talk with the Libyan envoy. I think they are fully aware of the situation, and – as I had the opportunity to say yesterday, following our meeting – from what was said, it seems that the regime is looking for a solution. Now, as you asked …
Journalist: Yes, what are the basic characteristics of that solution?
Mr. Droutsas: It is early and premature, I would say, to go into a discussion in any detail. What is important, I think, is that an effort is being launched; that everyone – the international community and the regime in Libya – sees that we must seek a political diplomatic solution. This is a first, important step, and then we will have to look at the characteristics of such a solution and study it, and you can be sure that Greece, too, is doing all the necessary work right now to get our thoughts down, even specific proposals that we will share with our partners to see how we can move ahead.
Journalist: But can you give the regime a way out when the international community has made it clear that the leaders will be prosecuted for crimes against humanity, against civilians? That is, don’t you have to offer something to them if there is to be a way out?
Mr. Droutsas: Look, diplomacy takes a lot of imagination as well, if you will, to play with various thoughts. But one thing has been made clear by the international community: What happened in Libya cannot simply be passed over. We can’t look at the ‘day after’ as if nothing happened.
The international community will certainly do what it has to do, but, Mr. Kyrtsos, allow me to repeat that it is too early to go into a detailed discussion and thoughts about what might and might not be possible. Let’s not forget that the situation in Libya is much more difficult and can’t be compared to other countries.
In Libya, you have the regime, which has absolute control of the country. You now have the anti-government forces. But you also have what is characteristic of Libya: that it is made up of various tribes, each of which has its leadership. So things are complicated, and it isn’t easy to look for such a political solution.
It was, let’s say, a different story in Egypt: there, you at least had the armed forces, which traditionally had the role of guarantor in Egypt; the army, which was able to take on transitional control of the country and prepare the necessary reforms – and I am expressing the hope that these reforms move ahead fast, at the right pace.
In Libya, we don’t have that kind of option, so we need to look for the right framework that, during a transitional period, will be able to guarantee security and stability in Libyan and guarantee preparation for the necessary changes. That’s the big difficulty in Libya.
Journalist: And is it your understanding, Mr. Droutsas, that they want Greece to participate actively in these negotiations?
Mr. Droutsas: Look, they chose Athens as the first stop on these meetings. Allow me to stress that this mission from Mr. al-Obeidi was decided on during a phone conversation between George Papandreou and the Libyan Prime Minister.
That’s where this initiative was born, if you will. The first stop was Athens, yesterday evening. Mr. a-Obeidi informed us that he will continue today to Turkey, and from there he will go to Malta. And from what we understood, there will also be various meetings with African countries.
So, we have some activity here; some hope, if only a little, for things moving ahead towards a political/diplomatic solution that we all want – Greece first of all, because we have a direct interest in peace and stability in our immediate region.
Journalist: What picture do you have of the military operations? That is, has the country been split? Is a ground-force intervention being prepared, or just allied air strikes? Will diplomacy be in time to avert such developments?
Mr. Droutsas: There are no thoughts, from the information that we have, of a ground-force intervention. I think that is something we all hope we won’t need to see.
Once again, Mr. Kyrtsos, we are trying to focus on this effort, which has just begun, to perhaps find a diplomatic/political solution so that we can have an immediate stop to the hostilities and violence. In the final analysis, that is what we are after, that is what the international community and the UN Security Council want: an immediate ceasefire and an immediate end to the hostilities and violence against the civilian population of Libya.
Journalist: That was Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas, the head of Greek diplomacy. Thank you very much for talking to us and filling us in, Mr. Droutsas.
Mr. Droutsas: Thank you.
April 4, 2011