Libya ready for ceasefire, demands end to NATO strikes

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TRIPOLI: Libya said on Thursday it was ready for a ceasefire and negotiations with rebels who hold the east of the country but demanded it include an immediate halt to Nato airstrikes.

The proposal by Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi, who said it mirrored a plan floated by the African Union, one of Tripoli's few allies, for resolving the conflict, came on the heels peace overtures to Spain and other foreign countries.

It also follows some of the heaviest attacks to date in Nato's Libyan air campaign, which Muammar Gaddafi's government says has exceeded a mandate of civilian protection based on United Nations Security Council resolutions, and now aims at killing or toppling the Libyan leader.

"Libya is serious about a ceasefire, which must be a ceasefire from all sides, especially Nato," Mahmudi told reporters in Tripoli. He dismissed, however, any prospect of Gaddafi's departure -- a key rebel demand.

White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes, speaking at the Group of Eight summit in France, said the United States did not see the new Libyan ceasefire offer as credible because it was not accompanied by action.

Libya was not complying with U.N. demands and its forces were still attacking population centers, so the United States would continue with the military campaign, he told reporters.

The prime minister scorned the rebel Transitional National Council, recognized by a handful of states as Libya's legitimate representative, as former members of the same order they aim to overthrow. (APP)