That is former Jordanian foreign minister Abdelilah al-Khatib.
Regarding the coordination between the UN special envoy and the contact group, I am pleased to confirm that the UN participates at every contact group meeting. We have had four so far. When it is possible within his schedule, Mr. Al-Khatib briefs us directly. If he is not able to, then the UN political affairs department provides an update on his efforts at achieving a political negotiation.
I think it's an important part, because as I indicated in my statement, the contact group really is the international body that can coordinate efforts on a political settlement. Despite the best efforts of our military colleagues, their mandate is quite different, and that is to protect civilians. We have worked with Mr. Al-Khatib and we are participating in the contact group, so we are aware of his briefings at every meeting.
I have met with the UN special adviser for post-conflict planning at each contact group meeting since the time he was named. We work very closely to support Mr. Al-Khatib's efforts and those of the post-conflict planning team in preparing Libya for Gadhafi's eventual departure and to ensure that we have all the tools in place to support a democratic Libya in the period afterward.
As we indicated in our briefing, there have been a number of mediation efforts by the African Union, by Russia, and by Turkey. There have been a number of attempts to reach a basis of compromise between Benghazi and Tripoli. The contact group has served to ensure that all of these efforts have been coordinated under the UN special envoy. If we don't ensure that such coordination takes place, obviously we could face efforts coming at cross-purposes.
One of Canada's roles in the contact group context and in that international forum has been to reaffirm that this must all come under the special envoy and that he is the lead on that coordination process.