Libyan PM to visit France Wednesday

Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan is to visit Paris on Wednesday and hold talks with senior officials, topped by French President Francois Hollande, diplomatic sources confirmed here Monday. Zeidan's visit will come one day after an important international conference on Libya aimed at defining projects to help the country with security questions, governance and justice and issues linked with a State of Laws. The Libyan head of government is also to meet during his visit with his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is also expected to attend the meetings with Hollande and maybe Ayrault, the sources said. Talks between Zeidan and French parliamentarians are also on the programme, especially with Elisabeth Guigou, who is head of the Foreign Affairs Commission at the National Assembly, and the Libyan premier will also be visiting the French Senate. The Libya Conference is scheduled for February 12 and will bring together around 14 participants from a number of countries and organisations. At least five ministers are to attend and the GCC is being represented by Kuwait's Amal Al-Hamed, who is the Gulf organisation's ambassador to the European Union. The UN, EU, Arab League, the African Union and the Union for an Arab Maghreb will also attend, the sources said. Among major countries, the conference will include France and Libya, as co-hosts, the US, Britain, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Malta.