Gaddafi accepts ceasefire: AU mediator

photo: AP / Pier Paolo Cito

Gaddafi accepts ceasefire: AU mediator:

Tripoli, April 11: South African President Jacob Zuma says embattled Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi has accepted the African Union's roadmap for a ceasefire to end the war in Libya.

An African Union (AU) mediation delegation held talks with Gaddafi's team on Sunday about a peace plan to put an end to the conflict, AFP reported.

The AU has brought up other proposals to Gaddafi which will be announced later and will have a meeting with Libyan revolutionaries in Benghazi on Monday, Zuma said.

Gaddafi announced a ceasefire following the airstrikes that were authorized by the UN Security Council 1973 resolution but shortly after broke it by attacking opposition-held towns.

The revolutionaries have so far been against a ceasefire and have continuously called for Gaddafi's ouster, saying negotiations with the government will be held if Gaddafi and his sons quit power and leave the country.

Diplomatic measures were highlighted when the NATO air attacks, claimed to be aimed at protecting civilians, failed to fulfill its task by increasing civilian casualties in their operations, bringing the military action to an impasse.

Revolutionaries have slammed NATO for killing civilians, warning that it will ask the UN to suspend the Western military alliance's mission in Libya if it fails to do “its work properly.”

At least 13 people were killed and 14 others were injured in fierce fighting between Gaddafi forces and revolutionaries near the strategic town of Ajdabiyah on Sunday, medics said.

Sources say regime troops have also killed at least 30 opposition fighters in intense clashes in the western town of Misratah over the past 24 hours.

The Siasat Daily
Monday, April 11, 2011