Italy's foreign minister stressed today that Libya's leader must relinquish power, saying Moammar Gadhafi's past crimes make it unlikely he will respect a cease-fire. Speaking in London after Gadhafi's acceptance of an African Union brokered peace plan, which calls for an immediate cease-fire, Franco Frattini said that the only way for the North African country to move forward is without the Libyan leader.
"The future of Libya should include the departure of Gadhafi," Frattini said in London. "It is, frankly speaking, extremely difficult to envisage to have a cease-fire respected after the horrible crimes committed by Col. Gadhafi." That is why Italy has chosen to strengthen its relations with the Libyan opposition's interim governing council, he added. Frattini said Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the head of the interim council, will visit Rome on Friday to meet with Italy's president and prime minister.
Some suspect Gadhafi's agreement to the peace deal — which also calls for cooperation in opening channels for humanitarian aid and the start of talks between the rebels and the government — could be a tactic to stall for time, allowing his forces to rearm and regroup amid a military stalemate with rebel fighters. The AU plan makes no specific mention of any requirement for Gadhafi to withdraw his troops from Libya's cities as rebels have demanded.
NATO's top official said NATO would not cut back its operations to give space to the diplomatic initiative, but would base its operations solely on the need to protect civilians from attack. Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he had taken note of the AU effort but noted that cease-fires have been declared before in Libya without being implemented. He said NATO had been in touch constantly with the African Union and other regional and international organizations.