Libyan emissaries visiting Cairo, Brussels, Portugal: reports

Libyan officials have arrived in Brussels, Belgium for talks with European Union delegates, just before the EU foreign minister meet to discuss the crisis in Libya, according to Al Jazeera.

EU dignitaries will also meet with NATO defense ministers to discuss options pertaining to Libya, including the imposition of a no fly zone over the country.

Meanwhile, Libya’s deputy defense minister, Abdelrahman al-Zawi, and another Libyan official, has arrived in Cairo, Egypt for talks with either the ruling military council or with Amr Moussa, head of the Arab League.

As soon as the plane landed, those on board ... were immediately whisked away by private cars, a reporter told Al Jazeera.

In addition, Essam Sharaf, the Egyptian prime minister, left a cabinet to go to a meeting with the Egyptian military council.

It was reported earlier that three Libyan private jets owned by Moammar Gaddafi departed from a military airstrip outside Tripoli. One of those jets landed in Egypt with the deputy defense minister; presumably one of the other aircraft carried regime officials to Belgium.

The third plane is believed to have flown to Portugal.

Karl Stango-Navarra, a Malta-based journalist, told Al Jazeera that a group of Libyan officials had met with senior Maltese officials on Wednesday before flying on to Portugal.

We have an escalating diplomatic situation where Gaddafi seems to be seeking his friends in the sense of who is closest, both in terms of trade and political ties, so he can find a solution to the situation, he said.

A source with the EU confirmed that there is a plane going to Portugal with a moderate member of the Gaddafi regime.

That Libyan official reportedly is planning to meet Luis Amado, the Portuguese foreign minister, according to the EU source.

The Arab League is scheduled to meet in Cairo on Saturday to talk about the possibility of a no-fly zone over Libya. (Libyan delegates have been prohibited barred from attending the League's meetings).