Gaddafi to stay out of Libya talks, revives offer of vote to end conflict

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Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has agreed to stay out of negotiations on ending his country's four-month conflict, African leaders said in a communique after talks on Sunday in South Africa.

On the other hand, the Libyan government on Sunday renewed its offer to hold a vote on whether Muammar Gaddafi should stay in power, a proposal unlikely to interest his opponents but which could widen differences inside NATO.

Pressure is growing from some quarters within the alliance to find a political solution, three months into a military campaign which is costing NATO members billions of dollars, has killed civilians, and has so far failed to topple Gaddafi.

Moussa Ibrahim, a spokesman for Gaddafi's administration, told reporters in Tripoli the government was proposing a period of national dialogue and an election overseen by the United Nations and the African Union.

"If the Libyan people decide Gaddafi should leave he will leave. If the people decide he should stay he will stay," Ibrahim said.

The African Union panel on Libya "welcomes Colonel Gaddafi's acceptance of not being part of the negotiations process," the statement said, without elaborating.

AU peace and security commissioner Ramtane Lamamra read out the communique but refused to take questions.

A South African official who requested anonymity said after the panel meeting: "We wanted Gaddafi to make a public statement that he would not take part in the negotiations but he would not."

When asked about the significance of that, the official, who was part of a South African team that travelled to Tripoli last month in a failed bid to launch peace talks, said: "This means he is finished."

The communique repeated the African Union's call for an immediate ceasefire that would lead to negotiations toward democracy, as well as an end to NATO air raids against Gaddafi targets.

"The Libyan parties should begin the national dialogue for a comprehensive ceasfire, national reconciliation, transitional arrangements, as well as the agenda for democratic transformation," it said.

"These measures we are proposing should go hand in hand with an equally determined humanitarian effort," it added.

"In this context, we reiterate the call we made at the extraordinary summit of the AU of May 25, 2011, for the stopping of NATO bombings and the observance of a humanitarian pause."

The committee will present its report to the AU summit which starts on Thursday.

"In this regard, the committee stressed the need for unity of purpose and action among all AU member states, to enable Africa to fully play its role in the search for a solution to the current conflict and to ensure that its position is given due consideration in the international arena," read the communique.