Kadhafi ready to keep out of Libya peace talks, SA minister says

Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi has sent envoys to tell South African President Jacob Zuma he will stay out of talks on a peace deal and his own future, according to Foreign Minister Maite Nkoane Mashebane. She says the African Union panel on Libya will soon meet combatants from both sides in Libya to hear their reactions to the continental peace plan to end nearly five months of conflict.

Reuters/Enny Nuraheni

Both the Tripoli government and the Benghazi rebels are considering the African Union roadmap submitted to them by Zuma and his counterparts from Mauritania, Mali, Uganda and the Congo republic at the AU summit last week, Nkoane Mashebane says.

She says it is encouraging that Moamer Kadhafi has withdrawn from negotiations.

In talks with Zuma in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi earlier this week even Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen agreed the solution for Libya would be political not military, the minister claims.

She called for recognition of the African Union efforts in Libyan peace negotiations.

Nkoane Mashebane says the AU wants an immediate suspension of hostilities in Libya leading to inclusive negotiations on a permanent ceasefire.

Then there can be negotiations on a constitution - which Libya doesn’t have - and democratic elections.