Chavez discusses mediation with Gaddafi

President Hugo Chavez has spoken with Moamer Gaddafi about creating a bloc of friendly countries to help mediate a resolution to Libya's crisis, Venezuela's information minister said.

Venezuela's leader, who has forged close ties with Gaddafi and refused to condemn him for his crackdown on protesters, spoke with the Libyan leader on Tuesday, Information Minister Andres Izarra said through Twitter.

Venezuela has already reached out to its allies in Latin America and beyond to discuss the creation of a friendly bloc of nations dubbed the Committee of Peace to mediate the crisis.

Venezuelan officials did not say how Gaddafi had responded to the proposal.

Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said the creation of such a bloc could help resolve the conflict in Libya, adding that his government felt diplomacy rather than military threats should be used to end the violence sweeping the North African nation.

Maduro criticised US and European Union officials for adopting policies aimed at isolating Gaddafi and raising the possibility of providing military support to Libyans rebelling against the embattled leader.

Such policies "point at giving the empire authorization for an invasion against the Libyan people," Maduro said, according to the state-run AVN news agency.

Chavez who shares a mutual opposition to Washington with Gaddafi has he won't cave into international pressure to condemn Gaddafi and he has warned that Washington is preparing a military invasion of Libya.

"Hopefully in the coming days we could create a committee of friendly countries that go to talk with the government of Col. Gaddafi as well as the opposition that his taken up arms in some regions," Maduro said.

Officials in Washington and Europe have not publicly raised the possibility of a military invasion.

Gaddafi has warned against US or other Western intervention, vowing to turn Libya into "another Vietnam," and saying any foreign troops coming into his country "will be entering hell and they will drown in blood."

In a speech to chanting and clapping supporters in Tripoli on yesterday, Gaddafi lashed out against Europe and the United States for their pressure on him to step down, warning that "thousands of Libyans will die" if US and NATO forces intervene in the conflict.

Venezuela's opposition has strongly criticized Chavez for his close relationship to Gaddafi.

Earlier this week, a coalition of opposition parties warned that Chavez's failure to take a stand against Gaddafi's violent crackdown is smearing Venezuela's reputation abroad.