TRIPOLI, Libya—Under growing military pressure, Col. Moammar Gadhafi's government offered to withdraw the Libyan army from cities it has occupied to battle a three-month-old uprising if the North Atlantic Treaty Organization stops bombing the country and rebel forces agree to disarm.
Libyan spokesman Moussa Ibrahim, who outlined the offer late Thursday, said it was a response to a Russian proposal. It was the closest the government has come to addressing NATO's demands for halting a crackdown in which thousands are believed to have died.
The offer came after more than two months of intense bombing by NATO forces, including strikes on Col. Gadhafi's headquarters and command centers. On Thursday Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the colonel's wife, Safia, and their daughter, Aisha, had fled the country into neighboring Tunisia, apparently confirming a report that Tunisian and Libyan authorities have denied.
On Edge in Libya
Track the latest events in Libya.
View Interactive
Regional Upheaval
Track events day by day in the region.
View Interactive
More photos and interactive graphics
"The pressure on the Gadhafi regime has increased," Ms. Clinton said in an interview with CBS's Katie Couric. "There is an enormous amount of increased messaging going to Gadhafi, not just because of the military strikes, but from those who he thought were in his camp or at least wouldn't try to push him to leave."
Mr. Ibraham insisted Thursday that Col. Gadhafi's wife and daughter were in Tripoli and had not left Libya since the fighting erupted in mid-February. He said he had spoken to the colonel's wife earlier in the evening.
As he spoke to reporters, a NATO airstrike hit what appeared to be a warship docked in the port of Tripoli, sending up flames and plumes of black smoke.
The British military said NATO had launched a "major" strike against Col. Gadhafi's navy. British jets hit two corvettes at the naval base at Al Khums, a British spokesman said. They also targeted a facility in the dockyard which has been building the sort of fast inflatable boats that Libyan forces have used to mine Misratah and attack vessels in the area, he said.
NATO forces have been bombing Libya under a U.N. resolution authorizing them to protect civilians from Col. Gaddafi's forces. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday the alliance had "significantly degraded Gadhafi's war machine" and that it would keep attacking until Libyan forces pull back to their bases.
Turkey proposed such a withdrawal about a month ago, but Mr. Ibrahim said Libya had balked out of concern that rebel forces might re-occupy cities from which they had been routed.
Russian officials revived the proposal Tuesday during a meeting with a Libyan government delegation in Moscow, Mr. Ibrahim said.
"We are prepared to withdraw all our army units from the cities ... if we could work out a way to guarantee that no arms, no weapons are in these cities—not the government's weapons, not the armed rebellion's weapons," Mr. Ibrahim said. "If people are really interested in peace, they should say yes."
He said the proposal could be a first step toward peace talks and "a transitional period" in which Libyans would decide the country's political future.
A NATO spokesman said the alliance was looking for "deeds not words." He referred to NATO's terms for stopping its military action: an end to hostilities, the army returning to its barracks and unfettered access for humanitarian missions.
President Obama and rebel leaders have said Col. Gadhafi must give up power before any talks can begin. On Thursday, Mr. Ibrahim rejected any such preconditions, saying, "It's not Obama who decides. It's the Libyan people who will decide their future."
The Libyan army has kept a heavy presence in Tripoli and other cities of western Libya since crushing uprisings there. On Thursday the army fired rockets at rebel positions in the mountains southwest of Tripoli, forcing civilian inhabitants to flee across the nearby Tunisian border, news agencies said. Rebels control much of the western city of Misrata and the principal cities in eastern Libya.
In outlining the Libyan offer, Mr. Ibrahim said NATO would have to stop bombing to allow Libyan troops to leave the cities safely.
He said the government would welcome international supervision of such an arrangement and would would insist on maintaining a limited police presence in the cities.
Col. Gadhafi made a rare, brief appearance on Libyan state television late Thursday, meeting with Mohammed al-Sharif, who had led the delegation to Moscow. The Libyan leader, dressed in black and wearing sunglasses, appeared in good health and spirits.
—Alistair MacDonald in London contributed to this article.
Corrections & Amplifications
Col. Gadhafi's wife's name is Safia. An earlier version of this article misstated the spelling of her name.
Write to Richard Boudreaux at richard.boudreaux@wsj.com
al khums, moammar gadhafi, tripoli libya, libyan army, north atlantic treaty organization, atlantic treaty organization, british jets, libyan authorities, russian proposal, military strikes, nato forces, hillary clinton, military pressure, safia, rebel forces, dockyard, airstrike, corvettes, moussa, warship
No comments:
Post a Comment