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    July 03, 2011

Libyan Rebel Chief: Gadhafi Can Stay in Libya if He Resigns

   VOA News
   Mustafa Abdul Jalil, chief of Libya's Transitional National Council
   arrives outside 10 Downing Street in London (File Photo - May 12, 2011)
   Photo: AP
   Mustafa Abdul Jalil, chief of Libya's Transitional National Council
   arrives outside 10 Downing Street in London (File Photo - May 12, 2011)

   Libya's rebel chief says the opposition movement is willing to let
   Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi remain in the country if he resigns and
   agrees to international supervision of his movements.
   In an interview with Reuters news agency Sunday, Mustafa Abdel Jalil
   says the rebels made the offer to Gadhafi through the United Nations
   about a month ago, but have yet to receive a response. Jalil was
   speaking from the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, the stronghold of
   his rebel Transitional National Council.
   Jalil says that if Gadhafi resigns and orders his troops to withdraw
   from their positions, he can decide whether to stay in Libya or move
   abroad. The rebel chief says that if the Libyan leader wants to stay,
   the rebels will determine his location and "all of his movements" will
   be under international supervision.

   Gadhafi has vowed a fight to the end against rebels who began an
   uprising in February against his 42-year autocratic rule. Western
   powers have backed rebel demands for him to step down and have
   contributed to NATO air strikes on pro-Gadhafi forces to stop them from
   attacking Libyan civilians.
   A rebel TNC spokesman says the African Union's approval on Friday of a
   new plan to resolve the Libyan conflict does not go far enough because
   it fails to call for Gadhafi's resignation.
   Abdel Hafiz Ghoga says the rebels will pursue a military campaign to
   topple Gadhafi unless he resigns all of his duties and allows the
   country to begin a transition to democracy.
   African Union leaders representing South Africa, Mauritania, Uganda,
   Mali, and the Republic of Congo drafted a plan for Libya that calls for
   an immediate suspension of hostilities, a timetable for democratic
   reforms, the release of all prisoners of war and the lifting of all
   sieges.
   It says Gadhafi would stay out of AU-led negotiations on Libya's
   transition to democracy.

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