Gaddafi son offers Libya elections

Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi's son has announced that his father is willing to hold elections and step aside if he loses, an offer which could test the unity of the Western alliance trying to force him out.

The proposal, which follows a string of concessions offered by Gaddafi - that Western powers have dismissed as ploys - came on Thursday, as frustration is mounting in some NATO states at the progress of the military campaign.
Four months into the Libya conflict, rebel advances towards Tripoli are slow at best, while weeks of NATO air strikes pounding Gaddafi's compound and other targets have failed to end his 41-year-old rule over the oil-rich country.
"They (elections) could be held within three months. At the maximum by the end of the year, and the guarantee of transparency could be the presence of international observers," Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
'No exile'
He said his father, who came to power in the same year that humans first set foot on the moon, would be ready to step aside if he lost the election but would not go into exile.
"I have no doubt that the overwhelming majority of Libyans stand with my father and sees the rebels as fanatical Islamist fundamentalists, terrorists stirred up from abroad," the newspaper quoted Saif al-Islam as saying.
It was not clear what form the proposed vote would take. Libya has never held elections under Gaddafi and has no elected institutions.

There was no immediate reaction to the offer from the NATO military alliance or rebels.
Saif al-Islam is one of three Libyan leaders wanted by an international war crimes prosecutor, but before the conflict he had frequent contacts with western governments and helped negotiate the end of international sanctions seven years ago.
The offer was made as Mikhail Margelov, the envoy leading Russia's efforts to end the conflict, arrived in Tripoli for talks wtih Gaddafi's government.
The Kremlin, which says Gaddafi should quit but opposes NATO's action in Libya, has said it is ready to help negotiate the Libyan leader's departure.
"Clearly the talks in Tripoli will not be easy," Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Margelov as saying before he left for Tripoli.
"In the Arab world there is a tradition of forgiveness and conciliation, and many formerly odious leaders of regimes in the region continue to live in their countries ... despite having been overthrown," he was quoted as saying.
More blasts in the capital
A series of loud blasts rocked Tripoli earlier on Thursday morning and smoke could be seen rising above the fortified compound of the embattled Libyan leader.
It was not clear what was hit, and there was no word on casualties, as government officials did not immediately comment on the strike.
NATO warplanes have repeatedly targeted the area in and around the Bab al-Aziziya compound, Gaddafi's command centre.
The North Atlantic alliance launched its air campaign nearly three months ago under a UN resolution to protect civilians after Gaddafi's troops used force to put down a rebellion against his rule in February.
The Libyan leader has described the rebels as "rats" and says NATO's campaign is an act of colonial aggression aimed at stealing Libya's oil.
Rebel forces are now fighting Gaddafi's troops on three fronts: in the east of the country around the oil town of Brega; on the edge of rebel-held Misurata, Libya's third-biggest city, and in the western mountains south-west of Tripoli.
'Mixed messages'
Rebels in the western mountains said on Wednesday they had taken control of two villages from pro-Gaddafi forces, building on gains which in the past few days have seen them advance to within about 100km of Tripoli.
But rebel forces show no signs of being able to break through to the capital soon.
In the meantime, the strains of the operation - which has now gone on for longer than its backers anticipated - are showing within the NATO alliance.
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, rounded on European allies last week for failing to back the mission the alliance took over in late March.
Republicans in Congress have demanded that US president Barack Obama urgently explain the legal grounds for US military involvement in Libya, prompting the White House to urge them not to send "mixed messages".
Speaking in London on Wednesday after meeting the British prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO Secretary General, said NATO would stay the course.
"Allies and partners are committed to provide the necessary resources and assets to continue this operation and see it through to a successful conclusion," Rasmussen said