Official: Leaders of France, UK to visit Libya

PARIS - The leaders of France and Britain will make a quick visit to Libya on Thursday, an official with Libya's governing body said, becoming the first foreign heads of government to travel to the country in the post-Muammar Qaddafi era.

There was no official confirmation of the visit by the offices of President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

"Our policy is never to comment on the prime minister's schedule," a spokesman for Cameron said on customary condition of anonymity in line with policy.

Suleiman Fortia, a representative of the Libyan city of Misrata to the National Transitional Council, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the two leaders were expected to visit.

France and Britain pressed for NATO action to protect civilians against Qaddafi's troops, and a French aircraft was the first to fly in the air campaign over Libya. France was the first country to recognize the council, known as the NTC, the closest thing to a government that Libya currently has.

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"Those who helped us, we are so happy to receive them as the first leaders to come," Fortia said by telephone from Tripoli.

Sarkozy and Cameron will visit Benghazi and Tripoli, according to Fortia. "We also invite them to visit Misrata because this is the place which showed Qaddafi how Libya is strong," he said. He added that he did not know whether the invitation would be accepted during Thursday's trip.

"We will invite them and hope this will be on their agenda."

The western port city of Misrata was a stronghold of the revolt against Qaddafi's 42-year-long rule, playing a central role in the war. The former rebels swept into the capital Aug. 21.

Qaddafi is being hunted down but numerous close family members have fled to neighboring Algeria and to Niger.

French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, who played an active role in Sarkozy's early stance on the side of the rebels who rose up against Qaddafi, was expected to travel to Libya, too, during the leaders' visit.

Meanwhile, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeffery Feltman, who had recently returned from Libya, told reporters in a conference call that some of the leaders of Libya's Transitional National Council are concerned that the fugitive Qaddafi has not been found and that the fighting still continues.

"They recognize the risks," he said, "they know they have a large border that they can't secure, and no one knows where Qaddafi is...and how much money he has. But in talking to people its almost as if Qaddafi has become irrelevant and they've moved on. That doesn't include the Transitional National Council officials, but for most people Qaddafi is already part of the past. They know they can't declare the country fully liberated yet...but politically he's already finished."

Asked if the deposed leader is still dangerous, Feltman said: "I think its possible for him to unleash violence...but I don't see any possibility of him reversing what the TNC and the Libyan people have gained."