Gaddafi will not step down from power: Libya

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Muammar Gaddafi will not step down from the helm of affairs in Libya under any deal with the opposition, country's foreign minister said on Wednesday in Russia, describing the proposal as unacceptable.

After his talks here with his Russian counterpart, Libyan Foreign Minister Abdul Ati al-Obeidi said: "The proposal for stepping down of the Libyan leader Gaddafi was unacceptable to Tripoli, it is out of question."

During his talks here with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to end the Libyan impasse al-Obeidi reaffirmed Tripoli's stance of cooperating with Moscow.

"Libya will welcome any Russian role in the peaceful settlement of the Libyan conflict," al-Obeidi was quoted as saying by local news agencies.

Al-Obeidi said Tripoli supported the African Union's idea on a ceasefire and starting talks between the warring sides.

"We proposed finding a solution equally acceptable to all Libyans, including the opposition in Benghazi," al-Obeidi said.

Moscow is pressing for the resignation of Gaddafi, who ruled the North African Arab nation for four decades. On Tuesday, speaking at a news conference in Hanover with German Chancellor Angela Merkel Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Gaddafi had lost legitimacy.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry Lavrov also discussed the Libyan issue with UN Secretary General's Libya Envoy Abdel Khatib over phone. "The Minister recommended Khatib to coordinate his efforts with other mediators," Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Last Friday the Libya Contact Group comprising of about 40 states, as well as representative of the United Nations, the Arab League and the African Union recognised the TNC as "the legitimate governing authority in Libya" until the establishment of an interim authority.

In a reference to this move Lavrov on Monday declared: "Moscow recognises the Transitional National Council of Libya (TNC) as a negotiating partner, but not as the only legitimate representative of the Libyan people."

He criticised the recognition of the TNC as the sole legitimate representative of the Libyans saying it tantamount to siding with one party in a civil war. The Kremlin's Africa envoy Mikhail Margelov had been shuttling between Tripoli and Benghazi to broker a peace deal between warring parties sans Gaddafi.