Muammar Gadafy is emphatic he will not leave Libya, South African president Jacob Zuma said today after talks with the Libyan leader that left prospects for a negotiated end to the conflict looking slim.
"Col. Gadafy called for an end to the bombings to enable a Libyan dialogue," Mr Zuma's office said in a statement.
"He emphasised that he was not prepared to leave his country, despite the difficulties."
Earlier, Mr Zuma told journalists that the Libyan leader is ready for a truce to stop the fighting in his country but listed conditions that have scuttled previous ceasefire efforts.
Within hours of Mr Zuma's departure from Tripoli late today, Libyan television reported Nato aircraft had resumed attacks, striking what it called civilian and military sites in Tripoli and Tajoura, just east of the capital.
Mr Zuma said Col Gadafy was ready to accept an African Union initiative for a cease-fire that would stop all hostilities, including Nato airstrikes in support of rebel forces.
“He is ready to implement the road map,” Mr Zuma said. The South African president said Col Gadafy insisted that “all Libyans be given a chance to talk among themselves” to determine the country’s future.
He was speaking to reporters from South African and Libyan TV, which broadcast his remarks late last night.
In April, Mr Zuma led a delegation of the African Union to Tripoli with an AU proposal for a truce.
Col Gadafy said he would accept the truce but quickly ignored it and resumed his attacks, while the rebels rejected the cease-fire out of hand because it did not include Col Gadafy’s exit from power. Since then many cease-fire efforts have failed for similar reasons.
In Benghazi, the de facto rebel capital, rebel foreign minister Fathi Baja rejected the African Union plan.
“We refuse completely, we don’t consider it a political initiative, it is only some stuff that Gadafy wants to announce to stay in power,” he said.
He said he believes Mr Zuma was in Tripoli to negotiate an exit strategy for Col Gadafy, though Mr Zuma’s office denies that. Mr Baja also said the rebels would launch an offensive against Col Gadafy soon.
For decades Col Gadafy has identified Libya as an African as much as an Arab nation. He disbursed millions of dollars in aid to African nations and built himself up as a leader of the continent.
Mr Zuma was greeted with all the requisite fanfare by Col Gadafy’s beleaguered regime. Dozens of Gadafy supporters, brought in for the welcoming, waved green Libyan flags and chanted slogans denouncing the Nato bombing campaign against Libyan government targets.
Nato temporarily lifted its no-fly zone over Libya to allow Mr Zuma’s South African air force plane to land at the main military air base next to Tripoli.
In Rome, an indication that Gadafy’s regime is losing support came from eight top Libyan army officers, including five generals, who defected from Col Gadafy’s military. They appealed to their fellow officers to join the revolt.
Agencies