AJDABIYA, Libya — South African President Jacob Zuma said Sunday that Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy had accepted a “road map” for ending the conflict that pits his forces against rebels determined to end his four-decade rule.
Zuma, who according to news reports led a delegation of African Union leaders in a meeting with Khadafy in his compound in Tripoli, did not disclose details of the cease-fire proposal. He also didn’t specify whether Khadafy himself or his adjutants had accepted the African Union plan.
The road map calls for making it easier to get humanitarian supplies to besieged areas and starting a dialogue between the rebels and Khadafy’s regime, The Associated Press reported.
Zuma said the delegation, which plans to meet the rebel leadership today in Benghazi, had completed its mission with Khadafy. He called on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to halt its airstrikes against the Tripoli regime’s forces.
“The brother leader’s delegation has accepted the road map as presented by us,” Zuma said, according to AP.
Libyan state television did not report that the Khadafy government had agreed to an African Union proposal.
Rebel leaders have demanded that Khadafy relinquish power and made it clear they will not accept the strongman, his relatives or close associates remaining in charge of the country.
Zuma’s statements came hours after NATO airstrikes pounded Khadafy forces fighting rebels for control of Ajdabiya. A day earlier, Khadafy forces had burst into the city in a direct assault that raised the specter of a rebel collapse.
The battle underscored how much the rebels need Western fighter planes to hold Khadafy’s army and paramilitary units back.
