Gaddafi envoy in Greece; Turkey rescues wounded, Posted by Meosha Eaton

* Libyan envoy in Athens with message from Gaddafi

* Fighting still stalemated in oil town of Brega

* Turkish ship evacuates wounded from Misrata

By Maria Golovnina

TRIPOLI, April 3 (Reuters) - The Libyan government sent an envoy to Greece on Sunday to discuss an end to fighting, but gave no sign of any major climbdown in a war that has ground to a stalemate between rebels and forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.

Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Abdelati Obeidi flew to Athens carrying a personal message from Gaddafi to Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou that Libya wanted the fighting to end, a Greek government official told Reuters.

"It seems that the Libyan authorities are seeking a solution," Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas told reporters.

But there was no indication on what Tripoli might be ready to offer -- beyond a willingness to negotiate -- to end a war that has become bogged down on a frontline in the eastern oil town of Brega, while leaving civilians trapped by Gaddafi's forces in the west.

Underlining the plight of civilians in western Libya, a Turkish ship that sailed into the besieged city of Misrata to rescue some 250 wounded had to leave in a hurry after crowds pressed forward on the dockside hoping to escape.

"It's a very hard situation ... We had to leave early," said Turkish consular official Ali Akin after the ship stopped to pick up more wounded in the eastern rebel stronghold Benghazi.

Turkey's foreign minister ordered the ship into Misrata after it spent four days waiting in vain for permission to dock.

It arrived under cover from 10 Turkish air force F-16 fighter planes and two navy frigates, Akin told Reuters.

The U.N.-mandated military intervention that began on March 19 was meant to protect civilians caught up in fighting between Gaddafi's forces and the rebels.

STALEMATE IN BREGA

Neither Gaddafi's troops nor the disorganised rebel force have been able to gain the upper hand on the frontline in eastern Libya, despite Western air power in effect aiding the insurgents.

After chasing each other up and down the coastal road linking the oil ports of eastern Libya with Gaddafi's tribal heartland further west, both sides have become bogged down in Brega, a sparsely populated settlement spread over more than 25 km (15 miles).

Yet Western countries, wary of becoming too entangled in another war after campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, have ruled out sending ground troops to help the rebels.

The United States, which has handed over command of the operation to NATO, said it had agreed to extend the use of its strike aircraft into Monday because of poor weather last week.

But it has stressed its desire to end its own involvement in combat missions, and shift instead to a support role in areas such as surveillance, electronic warfare and refuelling.

The combination of stalemate on the frontline and the plight of civilians caught in fighting or facing food and fuel shortages has prompted a flurry of diplomatic contacts to find a way out.

Greece said Obeidi would travel to Malta and Turkey after his talks in Greece, which has enjoyed good relations with Gaddafi for a number of years.

Papandreou had been talking by phone with officials in Tripoli as well as the leaders of Qatar, Turkey and Britain over the last two days.

One diplomat cautioned, however, that any diplomatic compromise -- for example one in which Gaddafi handed over power to one of his sons -- could lead to the partition of Libya.

That was a possibility ruled out by western countries before the air strikes were launched.

"Various scenarios are being discussed," said the diplomat. "Everyone wants a quick solution."

The rebels, meanwhile, are working to impose discipline among the ranks of their many inexperienced volunteers in order to not only hold their positions but push forward.

If there were eventually to be a ceasefire leading to the partition of Libya, control of revenues from the oil ports, including Brega and Ras Lanuf to the west, would be crucial.

The rebels named a "crisis team" with Gaddafi's former interior minister as their armed forces chief of staff, and attempted to stiffen their enthusiastic but untrained volunteer army by putting professional soldiers at its head.

"We are reorganising our ranks. We have formed our first brigade. It is entirely formed from ex-military defectors and people who've come back from retirement," former air force major Jalid al-Libie told Reuters in Benghazi.

Outside Brega, better rebel discipline was already in evidence on Sunday. The volunteers, and journalists, were being several kilometres (miles) east of the front.

Without a backbone of regular forces, the lightly-armed volunteer caravan has spent days dashing back and forth along the coast road on Brega's outskirts, scrambling away in pick-ups when Gaddafi's forces attack with rockets.

SHELLING IN MISRATA

In the west, Gaddafi's forces continued to besiege Misrata, shelling a building that had been used to treat wounded, a resident said, killing one person and wounding more.

Misrata, Libya's third city, rose up with other towns against Gaddafi's rule in mid-February, but it is now surrounded by government troops after a violent crackdown put an end to most protests elsewhere in the west of the country.

"It is very, very bad. In my street, Gaddafi bombed us," said Ibrahim al-Aradi, 26, one of the evacuees on board the Turkish ship that brought the wounded from Misrata.

"We have no water, no electricity. We don't have medicine. There are snipers everywhere," he told Reuters.

After weeks of shelling and encirclement, Gaddafi's forces appear to be gradually loosening the rebels' hold on Misrata. Rebels say they still control the city centre and the port, but government troops are pressing in.

Accounts from Misrata cannot be independently verified because Libyan authorities are not allowing journalists to report freely from the city, 200 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli.

Gaddafi's troops are also mopping up resistance in the mountainous southwest of Tripoli.

Government forces shelled the small town of Yafran, southwest of the capital on Sunday, killing two people, Arabiya television reported, quoting a witness.

They also shelled the city of Zintan, about 160 km (100 miles) southwest of the capital, a resident said.

"Gaddafi's brigades bombarded Zintan with tanks in the early hours on Sunday. There has been random bombardment of the northern area (of Zintan). They are still besieging the town," the resident, called Abdulrahman, told Reuters. (Additional reporting by Renee Maltezou in Athens, Alexander Dziadosz in Brega, Angus MacSwan in Benghazi, Christian Lowe in Algiers, Tom Pfeiffer in Cairo, Joseph Nasr in Berlin, Justyna Pawlak in Brussels; Writing by Myra MacDonald; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Divided NATO tries again to define Libya role, Posted by Meosha Eaton

* NATO split on French, Turkish demands

* U.S. wants to step back from leadership within days

By David Brunnstrom

BRUSSELS, March 22 (Reuters) - NATO tried again on Tuesday to resolve a fractious debate on who should command the military campaign in Libya once the United States steps back from leading the operation.

President Barack Obama, seeking to avoid getting bogged down in a war in another Muslim country, said on Monday Washington would cede control of operations against Muammar Gaddafi's forces within days and NATO would have a coordinating role.

But a heated meeting of NATO ambassadors on Monday failed to resolve whether the 28-nation alliance should run the operation to enforce a U.N.-mandated no-fly zone, diplomats said. The NATO council was meeting again on Tuesday to resume debate.

France, which launched the initial air strikes on Libya on Saturday, has argued against giving the U.S.-led NATO political control over an operation in an Arab country, while Turkey has called for limits to any alliance involvement.

Some allies were also now questioning whether a no-fly zone was necessary, given the damage already done by air strikes to Gaddafi's military capabilities, a NATO diplomat said.

"Yesterday's meeting became a little bit emotional," the envoy said, adding that France had argued that the coalition led by France, Britain and the United States should retain political control of the mission, with NATO providing operational support, including command-and-control capabilities.

"Others are saying NATO should have command or no role at all and that it doesn't make sense for NATO to play a subsidiary role," the diplomat said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu suggested that air strikes launched after a meeting in Paris hosted by France on Saturday had gone beyond what had been sanctioned by a U.N. Security Council resolution. [ID:LDE72L0JR]

"There are U.N. decisions and these decisions clearly have a defined framework. A NATO operation which goes outside this framework cannot be legitimised," he told news channel CNN Turk.

ITALIAN WARNING ON BASES

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini reiterated a warning that Italy would take back control of airbases it has authorised for use by allies for operations over Libya unless a NATO coordination structure was agreed. [ID:RMELEE7IO]

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said Britain or France could take charge of the air operation, or NATO could lead it, if sensitivities in the Arab League over working under NATO leadership were assuaged. [ID:nN20241921]

However, some analysts and NATO officials question whether France or Britain would be capable of coordinating a complex multinational air mission.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday that NATO should take charge of a no-fly zone, given its "tried and tested machinery in command and control". [ID: nHOC002230].

In arguing against a prominent NATO role, France has cited the alliance's poor reputation in the Arab world as a result of the war in Afghanistan and the perception that NATO is dominated by the United States.

Senior French analyst Francois Heisbourg said the best outcome would be to have NATO handle military coordination but hand political decisions to an ad hoc council of states participating in the coalition, including Arab countries.

Italy should be given an equal role with France and Britain because of its geographical location, interests in Libya and the key role of its air bases, he said.

"If Turkey sticks to its line, that would rule out a NATO role either politically and militarily," Heisbourg told Reuters. "If it lifts its objection, France would favour having NATO do the operational military coordination but not the political conduct of operations."

The nations leading the air campaign are all prominent NATO states, but NATO's operational role has so far been limited to expanded air surveillance.

Italian officials have described the current three-way command structure involving France, Britain and the United States and the resulting bombing campaign as "anarchic".

Italy's position reflects evident Italian annoyance with the attitude of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who led the diplomatic drive for the Security Council resolution.

Gianpiero Cantoni, head of the Italian Senate's defence affairs committee, was quoted in the Corriere della Sera daily as saying that French policy appeared to be motivated by a desire to secure oil contracts with a future Libyan government, while Italy would have to face a potential flood of refugees.

On Monday, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said the mission should be limited to creating a no-fly zone and that Italian planes taking part would not open fire.

(editing by Paul Taylor)

NY Times journalists at Turkish embassy in Libya, Posted by Meosha Eaton

ANKARA, March 21 (Reuters) - Four New York Times journalists captured by Libyan forces while covering the conflict there are at the Turkish embassy in Tripoli and will be sent home within hours, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday.

The four are two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and Beirut bureau chief Anthony Shadid, reporter and videographer Stephen Farrell and photographers Tyler Hicks and Lynsey Addario.

"Four New York times correspondents are currently in our embassy in Libya. The necessary work will be conducted for them to be returned to their countries within a few hours," Davutoglu told reporters.

The son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Seif al-Islam, said last week at least one of the correspondents was arrested by the Libyan army after it captured the city of Ajdabiya from rebels.

Turkey had been involved in seeking the correspondents' release. (Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz, writing by Daren Butler)

Turkey to play appropriate role over Libya -formin, Posted by Meosha Eaton

ISTANBUL, March 19 (Reuters) - NATO-member Turkey will make the necessary and appropriate national contribution to implementing a U.N. no-fly zone over Libya and measures to protect civilians, its foreign ministry said late on Saturday.

"Within that framework the necessary preparations and studies are being made by civil and military authorities in co-ordination," the statement added, giving no further detail. (Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz; Writing by Alexandra Hudson)

U.S. Not Likely to Suspend Nuclear Energy Plans, Posted by Meosha Eaton

By Williams Ekanem

Although the twin explosions at nuclear power plants in Japan have created a somewhat freeze on prospecting for nuclear power by various countries, the United States may not necessarily  tow the same line of putting on hold its nuclear energy plans.

Indications to this emerged on Tuesday at the Capitol Hill when leading Senators signified their lack of support for further suspension of work on development of nuclear energy.

Republican Senator John  Barrasso told congressional Reporters while responding to question on the issue that he does not subscribe to the United States to continue waiting on the development of nuclear energy, having been doing that for about fifteen years now.

In the same manner, Senate majority Leader, Harry Reid, D-Nev  said on Tuesday that the United States should not eliminate nuclear energy right away but understudy what is going on in other parts of the world.

Talks on the possibility of a nuclear freeze resurfaced on the front burner  when in only three days, Japan  has experienced two hydrogen explosion nuclear reactor.

Reports say the cascading troubles at the Fukushina Dai-Chi complex were set in motion when last Friday’s quake and tsunami in Japan’s northeast knocked out power, crippling the cooling systems needed to keep nuclear fuel from going into full meltdown weeks after a reactor shuts down.

Consequent upon the above, some countries in the midst of development of nuclear power are considering put a freeze on their nuclear energy plans.

Associated Press reports that Switzerland has ordered a freeze on new plants or replacements. The report quoted the country’s energy minister Doris Leuthard as saying that this necessary, Until safety standards have been carefully reviewed and if necessary adapted.”

The decision put on hold the construction of nuclear power stations at three sites approved by Swiss regulatory authorities. Switzerland now has five nuclear power reactors that produce about 40 percent of the country’s energy needs; it also has nuclear research reactors.

In Germany, thed government said it is suspending for three months a decision to extend the life of its nuclear power plants.  That also means that two older nuclear power plants will be taken off the grid shortly=at least for now- pending a full safety investigation, Chancellor Angela Merkel was reported to have told reporters.

A previous government decided to shut all 17 German nuclear plants, but Merkel’s administration last year moved to extend their lives by an average of 12 years.

In Turkey, opposition in one voice renounce government’s nuclear expansion plans. And anti-nuclear groups staged rallies around France, the world’s most nuclear-dependent country as the government sought to reassure the public that the risks remain minimal.

The governments of Russia, China, Poland and even earthquake-prone Chile say they are sticking to their plans to build more reactors. Bulgaria may freeze its Belene nuclear project and instead install a Russian reactor it has already ordered at its Kozloduy plant to reduce safety risks, Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov said on Tuesday.