The Arab League is "studying" a mediation proposal by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to find a peaceful solution to the crisis in Libya, secretary general Amr Mussa told AFP Thursday. "We are studying the proposal," Mussa said, declining to give any further details on the regional forum's response to Chavez's suggestion.
Chavez, an ally of Libyan leader Moamer Qadhafi, on Monday proposed creating an international peace mission with forces from friendly nations to try to mediate the unrest gripping Libya and avoid civil war. Venezuelan Information Minister Andres Izarra said Thursday that Chavez, the leader of Latin America's socialist left, recently spoke by telephone with Qadhafi.
"We can confirm Libya's interest in accepting this proposal, as well as the Arab League's", Izarra told AFP. But a source at the Arab League told AFP that a response to Chavez's proposal would have to be carefully considered. "There is no rejection and there is no acceptance right now," the source said. A summit of Arab and South American countries is scheduled for April and the league will be taking this into consideration when making a decision about Chavez's proposal, the source said.
"The summit is a goodwill initiative, so diplomatically it is not wise to simply reject Chavez's proposal ahead of this summit," added the source. Chavez said earlier this week that any foreign military intervention in Tripoli would be "a catastrophe" as Western countries mulled military action in Libya where more than 1,000 people have been killed in fighting. He and Kadhafi routinely make public condemnations of US "imperialism" and have exchanged visits in recent years. Ties are so close that Kadhafi was rumoured at one point to have fled to Caracas, claims that were later denied.
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