Ennahdha's Ghannouchi 'to mediate between Gaddafi-loyalists and Islamists'

The head of the Tunisia's formerly Islamist party Ennahdha has been approached by Gaddafi loyalists to help mend ties with Islamists in the Libyan capital Tripoli, Tunisian sources have told The New Arab.

The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said on Tuesday that Rached Ghannouchi had recently met with a delegation of "acceptable Gaddafi-affiliated figures" to discuss him working on behalf of the group to reconcile with "moderate Islamist forces".

They added that Ghannouchi had agreed to the proposal to help bring about the rapprochement between the two sides.

Political adviser to the Ennahdha head, Lotfi Zitoun, refused to confirm or deny the report, saying: "Sheikh Ghannouchi tries to work towards reconciliation between all Libyan parties. He is in communication with Libyan parties without exception."

Following the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011 in an uprising assisted by NATO, Libya descended into a civil war with rival governments established in Tripoli and Tobruk, in the east of the country.

The Islamist-backed General National Congress had a stronghold in Tripoli, until it was displaced by the UN-backed Government of National Accord in April this year.

In March, Ghannouchi told The New Arab that he had contacts with former leaders from the Gaddafi regime.

"We have spoken to some of them, like Ahmed Gaddaf al-Dam, Abdel Rahman Shalgam and Ahmed Jibril... We have always urged our Libyan brethren to avoid any exclusionary tendencies because the Libyan ship has room for everyone," he said.

"We are pushing for forgiveness and reconciliation, away from collective punishment and vengeance. It is un-Islamic and unfair to punish everyone who worked with the Gaddafi regime," he added.

The 75-year-old intellectual was re-elected in leader of Ennahdha in May, after the party made formal steps towards separating its religious and political activities.

Ghannouchi said at the time that there was no longer any room for "political Islam" in post-Arab Spring Tunisia.

"Tunisia is now a democracy. The 2014 constitution has imposed limits on extreme secularism and extreme religion."