Italy: Berlusconi and Frattini to meet senior Libyan rebel leader

Rome, 23 August (AKI) - Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and foreign minister Franco Frattini are expected to meet Libya's rebel National Transitional Council prime minister Mahmud Jibril on Wednesday, Frattini said.

The meeting is likely to take place in the northern city of Milan, Frattini told Italy's Radio Rai1 public radio on Tuesday, either before or after Jibril meets French president Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris, he said.

"I will be in touch with Jibril today to schedule our meeting," said Frattini.

"The important thing is that we make serious plans at European level for an initiative aimed at national reconciliation in Libya that must be managed by the Libyans," he stated.

Libyan rebels entered Tripoli on Sunday and are now claiming to have won a sixth-month civil war against longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi after taking almost all of the capital. Gaddafi's whereabouts were on Tuesday unknown

In a speech on rebel television channel Al Ahrar, Mahmud Jibril said Monday the world was watching Libya and its citizens needed to act responsibly and with magnanimity towards the vanquished.

"Do not avenge yourselves. Today, as we celebrate victory, I appeal to your conscience and to your responsibility: don't get carried away. Do not avenge yourselves, don't pillage, don't insult foreigners and respect prisoners," he said, according to AFP.

Jibril took particular pains to stress the personal safety of members of Gaddafi' family and inner circle who might be captured.

Members of the Libyan Contact group - foreign ministers from more than 20 countries including Italy and representatives of international organisations - were due on Thursday to hold a meeting in the Turkish capital.

The meeting will focus on security, public order, institution building, energy, communications and borders, the Italian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The NTC based in the eastern city of Benghazi, was announced late February, when the civil war between pro- and anti-Gaddafi forces broke out. The US is among over 30 countries to have recognised the NTC as Libya's legitimate government, at least temporarily.