Gaddafi regime in talks with France, son says

France is negotiating with the Gaddafi regime in an attempt to end the Middle East's bloodiest uprising. 

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, seen as the most powerful son of the Libyan leader, said his father's regime was in talks with the French government, according to an interview published on Monday in an Algerian newspaper, Reuters reported.

"The truth is that we are negotiating with France and not with the rebels," the El Khabar newspaper quoted Saif al-Islam as saying in an interview in Tripoli. 

"Our envoy to [Nicolas] Sarkozy said that the French president told him: 'We created the [rebel] council, and without our support, and money, and our weapons, the council would have never existed.' France said: 'When we reach an agreement with you [Tripoli], we will force the council to cease fire.'"  Gaddafi's chief of staff, Bashir Saleh, reportedly met French officials in a recent visit.

But Paris denies direct talks with the Gaddafis.  The country's foreign ministry said on Monday that the Libyan leader must go and insisted there were no direct negotiations with him, as claimed by Saif, who's viewed as increasingly erratic.

"France supports a political solution, as it has always said. There are no direct negotiations between France and the Gaddafi regime, though we pass on messages together in consultation with the Transitional National Council," foreign ministry spokesman Bernand Valero said.

A London-based spokesman for the TNC, Guma el-Gamaty also dismissed the Libyan claims. "It's just rumors and speculation," he said. "These are recycled ideas. Saif is a loose cannon at the moment. He is desperate. No one should take his statements seriously," the Guardian reported.

Any political shift by France would be significant since it and Britain are carrying the load of Nato's bombing campaign.

Meanwhile, one of Libya's most prominent Islamic scholars and a leading opposition figure, Ali al-Salabi, has confirmed that cease fire negotiations are underway between himself and Gaddafi's regime with the "tacit consent" of the NTC according to Al Jazeera.  Any idea of Gaddafi's departure has been complicated by an arrest warrant for crimes against humanity issued by the international criminal court.

There is mounting concern amongst NATO countries that nearly four months of air strikes have cost billions of dollars, yet have failed to see the removal of Gaddafi.