Libya's oil minister defects

Libya's oil minister has reportedly defected and fled to Tunisia.

Shokri Ghanem, who also chaired the National Oil Corporation, is said to be on his way to the Tunisian capital, Tunis.

Hoda Abdel Hamid, one of Al Jazeera's correspondents in Libya, said a border guard confirmed the defection.

"He told us the minister had crossed into Tunisia two days ago and that he was alone, not with his family," she said.

"He mentioned he had tried to cross before but was held in Libya. We cannot confirm this."

Rebels fighting to end the 41-year-old rule of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's embattled leader, also said they had information that Ghanem, 68, had defected.

However, rebels and Arab media reported on a previous occasion that Ghanem had stepped down, but he later re-appeared and said he was in his office and working as usual.

If confirmed, Ghanem would be the latest high profile Libyan official to leave the Gaddafi government. In March, Gaddafi's foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, defected.

Ghanem has been in charge of the oil ministry since 2006 and was previously prime minister. His oil ministry is the biggest income generater for the country. Libya has Africa's largest oil reserves, at 41.5 billion barrels.

A Holy week in Libya

So what's happened this week:

* hundreds have been killed
* thousands of refugees have been created
* western "military advisers" are on the ground
* drones are flying
* Gaddaffi's compound has been bombarded
* the Pope asks for a diplomatic solution
* the relentless fighting continues in Misrata
* and more...

You could say, as some invariably do (probably because they like the sound of the words) that "mission creep" is taking place. But what is happening is war. And unless anyone successfully takes up the Pope's advice, war is being fought with all its terrible consequences.

What NATO and the UN must do now is choose between loosing this war and loosing the diplomatic road as well. It would appear that the present strategy does not allow success in either of these ways.

There needs to be a radical revision: either total full out war and get Gadaffi, his supporters and hold them to account, or declare a pause in all military activity to allow diplomatic discussions to take place with all parties without the threat of violence.