Muammar Gaddafi offers ceasefire, but will not leave power

Tripoli, April 30: Muammar al-Gaddafi, the under-fire Libyan leader has on April 30 said that he was ready for a ceasefire and talks only if NATO "stop its planes". Despite all this, he has refused to relinquish power as demanded by the the rebels and Western countries demand.

Gaddafi said, "(Libya) is ready until now to enter a ceasefire..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. The gate to peace is open."

Denying mass attacks on civilians, he challenged NATO to find him 1,000 people who had been killed. He said, "We did not attack them (NATO countries) or cross the sea ... why are they attacking us? Let us negotiate with you, the countries that attack us. Let us negotiate."

Refusing to leave power, Gaddafi said, "I'm not leaving my country..No one can force me to leave my country and no one can tell me not to fight for my country."

But as he spoke, NATO fighter-jets bombarded three targets close to the television building in Tripoli in what the Libyan state media said was an attempt to kill him. It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties in the attacks.

OneIndia News