[ 2011-06-26 ]

African leaders discuss Libya truce efforts
BENGHAZI, Libya (AFP) - African leaders met on
Sunday to discuss efforts to broker an end to the
four-month-old conflict in Libya, after the rebels
said they expected a new offer from Moamer Kadhafi
"very soon" but it must involve him stepping
down.

The African Union's Libya panel gathered in
Pretoria to discuss the way forward after a visit
to Tripoli by South African President Jacob Zuma
last month failed to secure a truce deal
acceptable to NATO or the rebels.

Zuma urged both Kadhafi and the rebel National
Transitional Council to make compromises to reach
a deal in the face of a conflict that was
degenerating into a protracted and bloody
deadlock.

"On the ground, there is a military stalemate
which cannot and must not be allowed to drag on
and on -- both because of its horrendous cost in
civilian lives and the potential it has to
destabilise the entire sub-region," he told fellow
panel members.

"The solution in Libya has to be political and
lies in the hands of the Libyan people," he told
the closed-door meeting, according to a text of
his speech provided to AFP.

"Our Libyan brothers and sisters -- those in
authority and those in the (NTC) -- have to act
boldly and show leadership," he said.

Zuma again accused NATO of exceeding its UN
mandate in its bombing campaign in Libya,
insisting that the resolution approved by the
Security Council -- and backed by South Africa --
did not allow "regime change or political
assassination" of Kadhafi.

"The continuing bombing by NATO and its allies is
a concern that has been raised by our committee
and by the AU Assembly, because the intention of
Resolution 1973 was to protect the Libyan people
and facilitate the humanitarian effort," he said.

"The intention was not to authorise a campaign for
regime change or political assassination."

The meeting of the AU panel came after the Libya
rebels said late on Saturday that they expected to
receive a new offer from Moamer Kadhafi "very
soon" through French and South African
intermediaries.

"We expect to get an offer very soon; he (Kadhafi)
is unable to breathe," Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice
chairman of the rebel NTC, told AFP in the rebel
stronghold of Benghazi.

"We want to preserve life, so we want to end the
war as soon as possible," he added. "We have
always left him some room for an exit.

"Any proposal that is brought to us, we will take
a serious look at it so long as it guarantees that
Kadhafi and his regime, his inner circle, do not
remain in power."

The AU has been leading mediation efforts in Libya
with the blessing of other key players including
Russia.

Kadhafi is a long-time backer of the AU and a
forceful advocate for stronger continental
integration. He held the pan-African body's
rotating chair in 2009 and has twice held talks
with members of the panel.

Rumours have been rife in recent days that the
Libyan leader may consider leaving Tripoli and
that rebels could accept his internal exile to a
remote location.

The rumours have been fuelled by the deadlock on
the ground and a steady trickle of defections from
Kadhafi's ranks.

The rebels were locked in heavy exchanges with
Kadhafi's forces on Sunday in the plains below
their enclave in the Nafusa Mountains, southwest
of Tripoli, an AFP correspondent reported.

Multiple rocket and heavy machine gunfire was
heard from as far away as the hilltown of Yafren,
some 15 kilometres (nine miles) from the
battleground, the correspondent said.

Rebel commanders said the fighting centered on Bir
al-Ghanam, just north of Bir Ayad, a strategic
point on the road to Tripoli, 80 kilometres (50
miles) to the northeast, which the rebels seized
three weeks ago.

Source - AFP

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