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Africa North
Libya rebels dismiss deal with Gaddafi son
2011-04-05
Libyan rebels on Monday dismissed any possible peace deal which might see Muammar Gaddafi's son left in charge of the war-wracked country.
The charming one turned out not to be a changeling, but a true son of his vicious father all along.
Rebel fighters also made a new attempt to recapture Brega, advancing to the outskirts of the oil refinery town only to be forced back under artillery fire, as Gaddafi's envoy arrived in Turkey for talks on a possible "roadmap."
The old famous 'roadkill', with a distinctly lethal and Libyan twist.
Former colonial power Italy announced it was joining France and Qatar in recognising the rebels' Transitional National Council, and said it would send ships and planes to evacuate the wounded from besieged Misrata city.

The rebels insisted Gaddafi's entire family must leave Libya before there could be a truce amid reports the regime is pursuing a ceasefire and his sons want to oversee a transition.

After Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou met Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Abdelati Laabidi on the first leg of his mission, Athens said Gaddafi's regime was "looking for a solution."
One that keeps Gaddafi and his evil spawn in power and in Krugerrands...
The New York Times had reported that two of Gaddafi's sons were offering to oversee a transition to a constitutional democracy that would include their father's removal from power.
Because the Gaddafi boys have the interests of the people at heart...
But the rebels swiftly rejected any deal involving the Gaddafi family. "Gaddafi and his sons have to leave before any diplomatic negotiations can take place," the spokesman of the rebels' Transitional National Council, Shamseddin Abdulmelah told AFP.

He said the regime had lost any right to talk of a negotiated exit after it continued to pound Misrata, 214 kilometres (132 miles) east of Tripoli. "Gaddafi's forces will not stop bombing the city. The planes of NATO, whose mission is to protect civilians, do not even fly over the region," a spokesman for the rebels said on condition of anonymity.

Gaddafi envoy Laabidi travelled to Ankara on Monday for talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, with an eye to drawing up a possible ceasefire and a "roadmap" of political reform.

"Both sides have told us that they have certain thoughts on a ceasefire. We will talk to the two sides and see whether there is any common ground," a senior Turkish foreign ministry official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, however, dismissed the diplomatic overtures concerning a ceasefire from Gaddafi's regime. He said the proposals were "not credible" after Rome on Monday recognised the rebel Transitional National Council (TNC) as its sole interlocutor.

Britain said it was not pursuing "an exit strategy for Gaddafi" but a "genuine ceasefire."

"There have been lots of reports of envoys and of the regime reaching out in a number of ways... We have been very clear throughout about what the next step should be and that needs to be a genuine ceasefire and an end to violence," a spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron said.

Cameron himself made a surprise visit to the southern Italian Gioia del Colle base hosting British jets enforcing the no-fly zone, and announced four more Tornado warplanes for the Libya mission. He said the British jets had saved "literally thousands of lives in Benghazi and elsewhere in Libya."
Posted by:Steve White

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