By Bloomberg

Rebels seeking self-rule for eastern Libya are preparing to hold talks today with the government about reopening oil ports under their control, a spokesman said.

“An Executive Office delegation is planned to meet a government delegation to discuss a compromise proposal,” Ali Al-Hasy, a spokesman for the self-declared Executive Office for Barqa, or Cyrenaica region, said by telephone. Al-Sharif al-Wafi, a parliament member who previously conducted talks with the Barqa group on behalf of the government, declined to comment on whether talks are scheduled for today.

“It may be tribal figures talking to them on behalf of the government,” al-Wafi said by phone from Tripoli.

Libya, the holder of Africa’s largest oil reserves, has seen its crude output slump to about a 10th of its capacity as protests over jobs, pay and political rights disrupt operations. The Barqa rebels, led by former Petroleum Facilities Guards commander Ibrahim Al-Jedran, are demanding a 15 percent share of national oil revenue for the eastern region.

Muammar Qaddafi’s son Saadi, who was handed over to the Tripoli authorities by Niger last month, was shown on Libyan state television yesterday saying Jedran had sought his help to sell crude from rebel-controlled ports. Jedran denied the accusation in comments yesterday on Barqa TV, a local station.

An attempt by the rebels to sell crude independently of the government failed last month as the U.S. Navy intercepted the tanker Morning Glory they had loaded in Es Sider, one of the four ports they control.

The Libyan government agreed to release three rebels who were on board the Morning Glory, the Libya Herald reported two days ago.

The government may be willing to accept an interim deal that would allow oil ports to reopen without rebels ceding control, Eurasia Group analyst Riccardo Fabiani said yesterday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Maher Chmaytelli in Dubai at mchmaytelli@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaric Nightingale at anightingal1@bloomberg.net Rachel Graham, John Deane