White House: Gaddafi appeals to Obama for ceasefire

 

China.org.cn, April 7, 2011

The White House confirmed on Wednesday that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi?did write to President Barack Obama appealing for a halt of NATO campaign in his country, stressing that the conditions for a ceasefire lie in action rather than words.

"We can confirm that there was a letter, but obviously not the first," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters aboard the Air Force One as Obama flew to Philadelphia.

President Obama had made clear the conditions for a ceasefire a number of weeks ago, "which?is action, not words -- cessation?of violence, withdrawal from the cities and the menacing sort of positions that the Gaddafi forces had taken," said the White House spokesman.??

"Words are different from actions," he continued.

On April 1 the Libyan government turned down the rebel truce offer and claimed that the rebels were not seeking peace by raising the demand that the Libyan government troops should leave the country's cities.

The Guardian and BBC's Channel 4. reported earlier that the regime of Muammar Gaddafi has started to communicate with western countries in an effort to end the conflict in Libya.

"We are trying to talk to the British, the French and the Americans to stop the killing of people, former Libyan prime minister Abdul Ati al-Obeidi told BBC's Channel 4. "We are trying to find a mutual solution."

The Gaddafi regime delegation also expressed its willingness to come to the negotiating table during a meeting with five African state leaders in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa on March 25.

"We are ready to discuss what the Libyan people want. What kind of reforms do they want? If it is elections we are willing to discuss about the details. We are willing to negotiate with anyone. These are our people. There is no division between the Libyan people; there is a division between extremists and the Libyan people," Obeidi said during the Addis Ababa meeting.