Gadaffi's son should influence Libyan politics: Russia

<p><strong>Russia has endorsed the credentials of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the most prominent son of the former Libyan leader, saying he should play a role in his country’s political life.</strong></p> <p><span class="caps">RIA</span> news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov saying one of Saif’s representatives had delivered a letter from him to Moscow earlier this month in which he had set out ideas for the political future of Libya and that Saif was in regular contact with Russia.</p> <p>Western powers and the United Nations are pushing for the North African country to hold elections next year after a national conference to try to end seven years of conflict in the oil producer.</p> <p>Saif’s father was toppled and killed in a 2011 revolt. Saif, who was detained afterwards before later being freed, was seen by some as a potential reformist successor to his father in the years before 2011 and remains a key figure for Gaddafi loyalists.</p> <p>“We support everyone. We believe that nobody should be isolated or excluded from a constructive political role,” <span class="caps">RIA</span> cited Bogdanov as saying.</p> <a style="font-size:16px; font-color:yellow;" href="http://www.africanews.com/2018/02/14/gaddafi-s-son-can-contest-for-libyan-president-speaker-of-parliament/"target="_blank"><span class="caps">ALSO</span> <span class="caps">READ</span>: Libyan speaker of parliament says Gaddafi’s son can contest for president</a> <p>“That’s why we are maintaining contacts with all groups who are based in the west, east and south of the country … Saif al-Islam has the backing of specific tribes in specific areas of Libya and all this should be part of the overall political process with the participation of other political forces.”</p> <p>Russia is also in close contact with Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar who dominates eastern Libya and has visited Moscow and held talks with top officials.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Geopolitics: Russia-<span class="caps">CAR</span> ties signal renewed relationship with Africa <a href="https://t.co/6dMXHIFVMG">https://t.co/6dMXHIFVMG</a></p>— africanews (@africanews) <a href="https://twitter.com/africanews/status/1052838917983092736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

We believe that nobody should be isolated or excluded from a constructive political role.