France’s pivot to diplomacy was only underlined this morning when Qaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, was quoted in the Algerian newspaper El Khabar as saying that the Qaddafi regime was negotiating with France and not the rebels. Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero has denied any direct negotiations with Libyan officials but acknowledged that “we pass messages through the rebel council (TNC) and our allies.” France is also distancing itself a bit from Longuet’s statements yesterday. Foreign Minister Alain Juppe clarified that NATO still needed to “keep up the military pressure” on Qaddafi and Valero noted that “any political solution must begin with Qaddafi’s withdrawal from power and abandonment of any political role.” Juppe added, however, that France is simultaneously working to broker a political solution based on a genuine ceasefire and left open the possibility that Qaddafi could cede power but remain in Libya.

What explains the U.S./France role reversal on Libya? Three months of air strikes “have cost billions of dollars and failed to produce the swift outcome its backers had expected,” Reuters explains, and “cracks are emerging inside the NATO alliance.”