French President Nicolas Sarkozy will meet the head of Libya's rebels, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, in Paris on Wednesday, April 20, as Western powers struggle to break a deadlock in the two-month conflict.

Fighting between Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces and rebels appears to have stalemated on a frontline just west of Ajdabiyah in eastern Libya. Misrata, the rebels' only major stronghold in the west, has been besieged for more than seven weeks.

Wednesday's meeting will be the first time that Sarkozy, the first foreign leader to recognize the rebels' national transition council, will meet Jalil, who was formerly Gaddafi's justice minister.

Jalil is expected to ask that NATO increase air strikes and he could supply a list of names of officials in Tripoli with whom the opposition would be willing to work if Gaddafi departs, a source close to the Libyan opposition said on Tuesday.

Sarkozy's office said the talks would focus on how to bring about a democratic transition in Libya.

Libya's foreign minister, Abdul Ati al Obeidi, was quoted as saying that the government could hold elections, including on Gaddafi's future, if Western air strikes stopped, Reuters reported.