Gaddafi calls for ceasefire

Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has called for a ceasefire and talks with NATO to stop the coalition's air strikes against his country.



The Western alliance is acting under a UN mandate to protect civilians amid an uprising against Colonel Gaddafi's rule.



Previous Libyan offers of ceasefires have either not been implemented or have been quickly broken.



The rebel Transitional National Council rejected Colonel Gaddafi's offer, saying the time for compromise had passed.



The council's vice-chairman, Abdul Hafez Ghoga, told reporters in the eastern city of Benghazi that the people of Libya cannot possibly envisage or accept a future Libya in which Gaddafi's regime plays any role.