Libya says ready to accept AU mediation

Libyan opposition fighters try to cover from tank shelling near the eastern town of Ajdabiya

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/171635.html

Senior Libyan officials say the country's longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi is ready to accept an African Union-mediated political solution to the unfolding crisis in the country.

"We are ready to implement the Road Map envisaged [by] the High-Level Committee mandated by the Peace and Security Council of the African Union," the Libyan delegation to AU talks said in a statement in Addis Ababa on Friday.

This comes after the African leaders gathered in the Ethiopian capital to discuss the ongoing Libyan crisis.

Gaddafi had also dispatched a high-level delegation to join the African Union talks.

The talks also included EU, UN and Arab League representatives.

It could not immediately be confirmed if representatives from the Benghazi-based National Libyan Council were present at the talks.

The council, headed by Libya's former Justice Minister Mustafa Abdel Jalil, plans to lead the country to an election.

Jalil was among the first high-profile Libyan figures to join protesters following the Gaddafi regime's brutal crackdown on the opposition.

Latest reports say US-led Western warplanes have struck Libyan ground forces for a seventh consecutive day near strategically-important towns.

The US and its Western allies have carried out a bombing campaign against Libya since the Security Council ratified the no-fly zone over the African nation.

Libya says many civilians have been killed in the airstrikes.

The developments also come as revolutionary forces are gearing up for a new attack on troops loyal to Gaddafi to win back the eastern city of Adabiyah.