Libyan Revolutionary Forces Opposition Expects Gaddafi Offer “Very Soon”

Libya’s opposition expected to receive a proposal from Muammar Gaddafi “very soon” that could end the crisis in the African country, insisting the embattled leader should agree to stand down.

As the Libyan Revolutionary Forces said they were in direct talks with Gaddafi officials, they expected to receive the offer through South African and French mediators.
“We expect to get an offer very soon; he (Gaddafi) is unable to breathe,” vice chairman of the National Transitional Council (NTC ), Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, told AFP news agency in the protesters stronghold of Benghazi.

“We want to preserve life, so we want to end the war as soon as possible,” he added. “We have always left him some room for an exit.”
Ghoga said the NTC understood through contacts with France and South Africa that an offer was being prepared by the authorities in Tripoli.
“These are the countries chosen by the Gaddafi regime to present a proposal to the National Transitional Council, but we have not received anything to date,” he said.

“Any proposal that is brought to us, we will take a serious look at it so long as it guarantees that Gaddafi and his regime, his inner circle, do not remain in power.”

South African President Jacob Zuma, who met Gaddafi last month without securing a deal acceptable to the opposition, was to host a meeting of the African Union’s Libya panel on Sunday to discuss the bloc’s mediation efforts.
Zuma was to meet in Pretoria with fellow heads of state on the African Union panel from the Congo Republic, Mali, Mauritania and Uganda.

Gaddafi is a long-time backer of the AU and a forceful advocate for stronger continental integration. He held the pan-African body’s rotating chair in 2009 and has twice held talks with members of the panel.
Many AU leaders have publicly criticized NATO\’s assault on his regime, including Zuma, who earlier this month accused the alliance of abusing the United Nations resolution that justified its bombing.

But these leaders also consider that Gaddafi can no longer lead Libya. They have been calling for a ceasefire and a diplomatic solution.