BENGHAZI, Libya — A rebel council on Monday rejected an African Union delegation’s proposal for a cease-fire and continued to press for the ouster of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Rebel leaders in Benghazi, the opposition’s de facto capital, say they don’t believe that Gadhafi would adhere to a cease-fire, and they reject any plan that does not include his immediate resignation and departure from the country.
The rebels’ Transitional National Council — largely made up of doctors, lawyers, intellectuals, defectors and former exiles — is deeply skeptical about the neutrality of the African Union, which they see as packed with Gadhafi allies.
Opposition leaders were also disappointed because the peace plan fails to wring any concessions from Gadhafi at the outset, despite the brutal suppression of protests in February in which hundreds of people were shot and thousands were arrested.
Gadhafi accepted the plan — dubbed a “political road map” — after meeting with the delegation Sunday in Tripoli. The plan calls for an immediate cease-fire — including, officials said, the suspension of NATO bombings of Gadhafi’s military equipment and troops; cooperation from the authorities to guarantee safe passage for humanitarian aid; the protection of foreign nationals, including African migrant workers; and the launching of a dialogue about reform between the government and the opposition.
That dialogue would take place during a transition period, “with the view to adopting and implementing the political reforms necessary for the elimination of the causes of the current crisis, including democracy, political reform, justice, peace and security, as well as socioeconomic development,” the African Union said.
But many political experts say democracy is fundamentally incompatible with a totalitarian regime based around Gadhafi’s personality cult. Compromise between the rebels and the government would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, they say.
Outside the towering Tibesty Hotel in Benghazi on Monday, a few hundred protesters chanted against the iron-fisted leader and rejected the “road map” while the rebel council and the African Union delegation were meeting.
Before details of the plan were unveiled, rebels said they would not sign on to any plan that fell short of the departure of Gadhafi and his sons.
Fighting continued Sunday in the strategic eastern city of Ajdabiya for the second day in a row. By late afternoon, rebels said they had control of the city, which serves as a buffer for Benghazi and was almost deserted of civilians.
