Opposition urges Tories to contact Libyan rebels, push for Gadhafi ouster

Canada says it would consider direct diplomatic contact with anti-Gadhafi forces in Libya, but unlike its ally Britain, it hasn’t moved in that direction yet.

“This is a continuous moving target so, this is the first I hear of this,” Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Monday. “There’s always a great deal of validity in being able to speak to these people.”

Opposition MPs urged the Harper government to talk directly to Libyan rebels fighting Moammar Gadhafi. Liberal MP Bob Rae presented the option as one of the more “active and inventive” ways Canada could help speed Gadhafi’s overthrow.

The National Libyan Council has now positioned itself as the political branch of the anti-Gadhafi forces.

“We need to un-recognize Col. Gadhafi as the official regime of Libya,” said Rae, the Liberal foreign affairs critic. He said the government should “establish diplomatic contact” with National Libyan Council, “to have direct contact with them.”

Added New Democrat foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar: “It’s important at this point to be trying to connect with what is being seen as the provisional government right now.”

Neither Rae nor Dewar had specifics on how Canada might accomplish this, but at least one attempt to do just that has proved perilous.

“The British learned a lesson recently when they sent their folks in to help. You need to consult first. I would highly recommend that,” Dewar noted.

Britain bungled its efforts to reach out to the anti-Gadhafi forces last week. Eight people were detained by rebel forces after a helicopter carrying British diplomats and SAS special forces soldiers landed in eastern Libya.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague blamed the incident on a “misunderstanding” Monday, but said opposition figures had “welcomed the idea” of establishing diplomatic ties. Hague confirmed other officials will be sent to eastern Libya to cement relations.

In Ottawa, Rae maintained that Canadian needs to do more, including forging deeper ties with the Arab League and the African Union, as well as working with its allies in NATO and the United Nations.

Cannon said he spoke recently with Amr Moussa, the veteran Egyptian diplomat who serves as the Secretary General of the Arab League. Moussa has said he will run for Egypt’s presidency later in the year following the ouster of Hosni Mubarak.

Cannon wouldn’t discuss details of his conversation with Moussa.

Dewar said Canada could be offering more help to ease humanitarian suffering in the region because it has sent several military aircraft and a warship there.