Libyan government aide was in London

A Libyan government aide has held talks in Britain with U.K. officials in recent days, two people familiar with the issue said Friday.

Mohammed Ismail, a senior aide to Moammar Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, met with and also spoke by phone to British officials, who repeated to him their public calls for Gadhafi to quit.

Two people familiar with the matter, who both demanded anonymity to discuss details, said Ismail had been in Britain to visit relatives, and that when officials became aware they took the chance to speak with him.

Both insisted that Ismail had not been sent to London on a mission mandated by Gadhafi, nor was he in the U.K. in an attempt to open up a new channel of communication between Tripoli and the West.

Ismail has returned to Libya following his visit earlier this week.

Britain's Foreign Office said in a statement that it would not provide "a running commentary on who we are or are not speaking to," but stressed that in any contacts "we make it clear that Gadhafi has to go."

Officials were on Friday continuing to debrief Libya's ex-foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, who fled Tripoli and flew into England on Wednesday.

---

Cassandra Vinograd contributed to this report