Representatives of veteran leader Moamer Gaddafi have made contact with the Libyan rebels in a number of European capitals, including Berlin, Paris and Oslo, a top Russian envoy said Friday.

Contacts have occurred in the three cities as well as in other countries, Mikhail Margelov said in Tunis after meeting with Tunisian Foreign Minister Mohamed Mouldi el Kefi.

Margelov had said Thursday after meeting Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi Mahmudi in Tripoli that talks had taken place between the Gaddafi regime and rebels in Paris only.

After Friday's talks, Margelov told reporters that national reconciliation was the only way to resolve the crisis.

"What we have to do now is to support all the efforts inside Libya," he said.

"Political crisis cannot be resolved by military means," he added.

Margelov said that the Libyans needed an opportunity to negotiate, "a mechanism that brings them together and if the international community can provide such a mechanism that would be a great help."

Russia was actively trying to encourage talks that would unite "the rebellion, the government and other members of the Libyan elite," he said.

The envoy said he would report to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and hoped that world leaders would come up with "some kind of international initiative."

"I think we're heading in the right direction," he said adding that Tunisia, as Libya's neighbour and with a history of regional mediation, could play a crucial role in hammering out a political settlement on Libya.

In separate comments reported by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS, Margelov said he understood from contacts in Tunisia that talks between Libyan factions had also taken place in Tunis.