Libya rebels to hold talks in Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey - A leader of the Libyan opposition was scheduled to hold talks in Ankara on Tuesday, shortly after Turkey recognized a rebel council battling Muammar Gadhafi's rule, a senior Turkish diplomat said.

Mahmud Jibril, who handles foreign affairs for the Transitional National Council (TNC), based in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, was to have three-way talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his United Arab Emirates (UAE) counterpart, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan.

The talks were meant to prepare the ground for a meeting of the so-called International Contact Group on Libya, scheduled for July 15 to 16 in Istanbul, the diplomat said.