Qadaffy to stand down and said any initiative to resolve the crisis would have to go through the African Union....a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
"The G8 is an economic summit. We are not concerned by its decisions," said Libya's deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaaim.
Tripoli also rejects Russian mediation and will "not accept any mediation which marginalises the peace plan of the African Union," he said. "We are an African country. Any initiative outside the AU framework will be rejected."
Kaaim said it had no confirmation of a change in Russia's position.
"We have not been officially informed. We are in the process of contacting the Russian government to verify reports in the press," the official told a presser.
But Kaaim declared that "no one can dictate to Libyans their political future. All political decisions in the country only concern Libyans."
Russia has been critical of the 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...
-led bombing campaign, but after months of violent and bloody festivities, agreed that Qadaffy should step aside.
Nicolas Sarkozy
...23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. Sarkozy is married to singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, who has a really nice birthday suit...
, the French president, thanked Dmitry Medvedev, his Russian counterpart, for helping efforts to resolve the conflict in Libya.
The French leader also confirmed that he planned to visit Benghazi, the rebel stronghold of eastern Libya, and suggested the trip would be made with
David Cameron... has stated that he is
certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite,which means he's not. Since he is
not deeply ideologicalhe lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as
certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger,but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ...
, the British prime minister.
"We spoke about this with David Cameron. It should be a Franco-British initiative," he said at the Deauville summit, but added no date had been set.
Cameron, who did not confirm the journey, said NATO's campaign in the northern African nation was entering a new phase and that "momentum against Qadaffy is really building".
"So it is right that we are ratcheting up the military, economic and the political pressure," he said.
Earlier in the day, Barack
B.O.Obama, the US president, said the UN mandate in Libya could not be met while Qadaffy stayed in the country.
"We agreed that we have made progress on our Libya campaign, but that meeting the UN mandate of civilian protection cannot be accomplished when Qadaffy remains in Libya, directing his forces ... and we are joined in [our] resolve to finish the job," he said.
Meanwhile,
...back at the sandwich shop, Caroline was experimenting with ingredients...
fierce fighting between rebels and forces loyal to Qadaffy broke out on the Western outskirts of the city of Misrata, according to reports.
A medical worker on the rebel side said that six fighters had been maimed in the fighting, two of them critically.
"We are being attacked from all sides with rockets, RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and mortars," Faraj al-Mistiri, a rebel fighter, told the Rooters news agency.
"It started between 05:30 and 06:00 local time (03:30-04:00GMT). They have advanced. It's normal to and fro. They are trying their hardest to get back into Misrata," he said.
Misrata, Libya's third-largest city, is the biggest rebel stronghold in the west of the country and has been the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in Libya's three-month-old conflict.
The government forces have also launched rocket attacks overnight in the rebel-held town of Zintan.
In a fresh jolt to the Qadaffy administration, the Libyan central bank governor told Arabiya TV that he is abandoning the government to join the rebel movement.
NATO also continued with its fourth night of