<p>Gaddafi has fiercely resisted all international calls for him to go and vowed to fight to the end, but members of his inner circle have given indications they are ready to negotiate with the rebels, including on the Libyan leader’s future.<br /><br />Gadhafi is still holding on to power, five months into a rebellion against his 41-year rule and despite a Nato bombardment and an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for crimes against humanity.<br /><br />“As a peaceful solution, we offered that he can resign and order his soldiers to withdraw from their barracks and positions, and then he can decide either to stay in Libya or abroad,” rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said in an interview.<br /><br />“If he desires to stay in Libya, we will determine the place and it will be under international supervision. And there will be international supervision of all his movements,” said Jalil, who heads the rebels’ National Transitional Council.<br /><br />Speaking to Reuters in his eastern Libyan stronghold of Benghazi, Abdel Jalil, Gadhafi’s former justice minister, said he made the proposal about a month ago through the United Nations but had yet to receive any response from Tripoli.<br /><br />He said one suggestion was that Gadhafi could spend his retirement under guard in a military barracks.<br /><br />Deadlock<br />The conflict in Libya is close to deadlock, with rebels on three fronts unable to make a decisive advance toward the Libyan capital and growing strains inside Nato about the cost of the operation and the lack of a military breakthrough.<br /><br />Previous attempts to negotiate a peace deal have foundered, but some analysts say Gadhafi’s entourage — if perhaps not the Libyan leader himself — may look for a way out as air strikes and sanctions narrow their options.<br /><br />Gadhafi’s daughter Aisha said last week her father would be prepared to cut a deal with the rebels though he would not leave the country, and his son, Saif al-Islam, has said Gadhafi would step down if that is what the people of Libya want.<br /><br />Threat dismissed<br />US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday stepped up Western calls on Gadhafi to quit, brushing off his threat to attack Europeans in their homes and offices. “Instead of issuing threats, Gadhafi should put the well-being and the interests of his own people first and he should step down.”<br /><br /></p>
<p>Gaddafi has fiercely resisted all international calls for him to go and vowed to fight to the end, but members of his inner circle have given indications they are ready to negotiate with the rebels, including on the Libyan leader’s future.<br /><br />Gadhafi is still holding on to power, five months into a rebellion against his 41-year rule and despite a Nato bombardment and an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for crimes against humanity.<br /><br />“As a peaceful solution, we offered that he can resign and order his soldiers to withdraw from their barracks and positions, and then he can decide either to stay in Libya or abroad,” rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said in an interview.<br /><br />“If he desires to stay in Libya, we will determine the place and it will be under international supervision. And there will be international supervision of all his movements,” said Jalil, who heads the rebels’ National Transitional Council.<br /><br />Speaking to Reuters in his eastern Libyan stronghold of Benghazi, Abdel Jalil, Gadhafi’s former justice minister, said he made the proposal about a month ago through the United Nations but had yet to receive any response from Tripoli.<br /><br />He said one suggestion was that Gadhafi could spend his retirement under guard in a military barracks.<br /><br />Deadlock<br />The conflict in Libya is close to deadlock, with rebels on three fronts unable to make a decisive advance toward the Libyan capital and growing strains inside Nato about the cost of the operation and the lack of a military breakthrough.<br /><br />Previous attempts to negotiate a peace deal have foundered, but some analysts say Gadhafi’s entourage — if perhaps not the Libyan leader himself — may look for a way out as air strikes and sanctions narrow their options.<br /><br />Gadhafi’s daughter Aisha said last week her father would be prepared to cut a deal with the rebels though he would not leave the country, and his son, Saif al-Islam, has said Gadhafi would step down if that is what the people of Libya want.<br /><br />Threat dismissed<br />US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday stepped up Western calls on Gadhafi to quit, brushing off his threat to attack Europeans in their homes and offices. “Instead of issuing threats, Gadhafi should put the well-being and the interests of his own people first and he should step down.”<br /><br /></p>