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Libyan opposition rejects Gaddafi truce offer
 [Al Jazeera] Libya's opposition has rejected leader Muammar Qadaffy's... a proud Arab institution for 42 years ... latest offer of a conditional ceasefire and negotiations upon an end to NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants... attacks. The opposition joined NATO on Saturday in dismissing Qadaffy's offer, saying the time for compromise had passed. "Qadaffy's regime has lost all credibility," Abdul Hafidh Ghoga, vice president of the opposition Transitional National Council, said in a statement. "The people of Libya cannot possibly envisage or accept a future Libya in which Qadaffy's regime plays any role." NATO reiterated the sentiment, saying the alliance wanted to see "not words, but actions" to stop attacks on civilians in Libya. "(UN Security Council Resolution) 1973 explicitly calls for an end to attacks on and abuses of civilians. The regime has announced ceasefires several times before and continued attacking cities and civilians," a NATO official told the AFP news agency. The rejection came hours after Qadaffy announced in an address on state television that he would not leave Libya. But he added that he was ready for a truce once "all sides" are involved and NATO stops attacking his forces. "We were the first to welcome a ceasefire and we were the first to accept a ceasefire ... but the crusader NATO attack has not stopped," he said. "We did not attack them or cross the sea ... why are they attacking us? Let us negotiate with you, the countries that attack us. Let us negotiate." Conciliatory note In a marked contrast to previous speeches, where he called the opposition "rats" and promised to track them down house by house, Qadaffy urged opposition fighters to lay down their weapons and said Libyans should not be fighting each other. He blamed the uprising on mercenaries and foreigners. "We cannot fight each other," he said. "We are one family." Qadaffy denied mass attacks on civilians and challenged NATO to find him the names of 1,000 people who had been killed in the conflict. After the pre-dawn broadcast on Saturday, state television said. ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe? NATO warplanes had bombed a site in the Libyan capital, Tripoli next to the television building during Qadaffy's address. "A building adjacent to the Jamahiriya ... An Arabic neologism coined by Muammar al-Qadaffy. The word jamahiriya was derived from jumhuriya, which is the usual Arabic translation of republic. It was coined by changing the component jumhur ‐ public‐ to its plural form, jamahir -- the masses. Thus, it is similar to the term People's Republic, only more denigrating to the actual inhabitants of the country... building was bombed during the broadcast of Muammar Qadaffy's speech and that implies a target on the leader of the revolution himself," the report said. Desperation Pro-Qadaffy forces are still struggling for control in key locations of the country as the conflict drags on. The Libyan government announced claim over the strategic port city of Misrata on Friday, but Al Jizz correspondent Sue Turton said the situation on the ground differs. A government front man threatened a blockade on Misrata port banning any ships that enter, but NATO said no such forced closure is happening, Turton said. Qadaffy forces did shut the port on Friday but it is back open, and NATO is making extra effort to ensure humanitarian ships are not sabotaged before reaching the port, she said. Government forces have been trying to capture Misrata's port for more than seven weeks, as it is a key passage point for humanitarian aid to reach the city's half a million people. Posted by: Fred 2011-05-01 |
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