South Africa Says Gaddafi Is Ready for Truce

South Africa Says Gaddafi Is Ready for TrucePretoria, May 31. -After holding talks in Tripoli with Muamar Gaddafi, South African President Jacob Zuma said the Libyan leader is ready to carry out an African Union (AU) roadmap for solving the crisis in the North African country.

Zuma returned Tuesday to Pretoria after a mediation mission to Tripoli and described his talk with Gaddafi as detailed and long.

The high-level AU committee on Libya proposed a five-point roadmap for peace, calling on conflicting parties in Libya to protect civilians, stop hostilities and provide humanitarian aid equally to both Libyans and immigrants in that country, recalls BUA News.

The committee also called for political dialogue to end the crisis, a transitional period and necessary political reforms to meet the demands of the Libyan people.

"I can say that the Libyan leader is ready to implement what is in the roadmap by the AU," Zuma told the press.

The Libyan government has accepted the AU's initiative and the African roadmap, Zuma said, adding that Gaddafi assured him of "the importance of the ceasefire proposed by the AU on condition that NATO and (others) stop bombing and give the Libyan people a chance to solve their problems by themselves."

However, the peace initiative has been rejected by the Benghazi-based rebels, who said it doesn't address their major demand, namely, the departure of Gaddafi.

On another issue, the Minister of International Relations and Co-operation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said Gadaffi had pledged to co-operate with South African authorities in finding photo journalist Anton Hammerlâ�Ös body.

Hammerl was killed in the Libyan Desert on April 5, near the town of Brega, reportedly by pro-Gadaffi soldiers.

Briefing the media following her Budget Vote in Parliament today, Nkoana-Mashabane said President Jacob Zuma, who returned from Libya today, had this morning confirmed to her that the Libyan leader had pledged his assistance in finding Hammerlâ�Ös body. (Prensa Latina)