AU: Gaddafi not part of negotiations

President Jacob Zuma, speaking at a meeting of African leaders yesterday, described the violence in Libya as "urgent".

Speaking in Pretoria, Zuma criticised the Nato bombing of Libya, saying the UN resolution authorising air strikes did not sanction a regime change.

South Africa, a signatory to the resolution, has come under increasing criticism for supporting the bombardment of Libya by Nato forces.

Zuma, who met Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli last month said: "The people of Libya are looking to us to end this carnage. The people of Africa want to see an immediate end to conflict in Libya and the beginning of the process towards a democratic dispensation there."

The UN resolution's intention ''was not to authorise a campaign for regime change or political assassinations", Zuma said in an opening speech to the AU panel.

"Civilian lives have been lost due to these bombs and civilian infrastructure has suffered untold damage."

Since voting for the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya by Nato, Zuma has, with increasingly forceful language, joined other African leaders in calling for an end to the air strikes

"On the ground, there is a military stalemate, which cannot and must not be allowed to drag on - both because of its horrendous cost in civilian lives and the potential it has to destabilise the entire sub-region," he said.

"The solution in Libya has to be political and lies in the hands of the Libyan people.

"Our Libyan brothers and sisters - those in authority and those in the TNC [Transitional National Council] have to act boldly and show leadership."

The meeting came after Libyan rebels said late on Saturday that they expected to receive a new offer from Gaddafi "very soon" through French and South African intermediaries.

Zuma met Gaddafi in Tripoli on May 30 but was rebuffed in his efforts to find a compromise.

Zuma was meeting the leaders of Mauritania, Uganda and Mali, and Congo-Brazzaville's foreign minister, to find ways of pushing forward an AU "road map" for Libya.

The plan calls for a cease-fire and reforms "necessary for the elimination of the causes of the current crisis" but the rebels have rejected African leaders' efforts to mediate a solution and insist that Gaddafi must end his grip on power before they will consider accept a deal.

In a further development yesterday, African leaders said Gaddafi had agreed not to take part in negotiations to end the turmoil in Libya.

There was no immediate confirmation from Libya of what could be a major concession.

In a communique issued after a day-long meeting in Pretoria, the African Union's committee on Libya said it "welcomes Colonel Gaddafi's acceptance of not being part of the negotiation process".

The communique did not elaborate, and committee members did not take questions.