Gaddafi's holds out offer of elections

Gaddafi's holds out offer of elections

Libya's Muammar Gaddafi has said he is willing to hold elections and step aside if he lost.

Gaddafi’s son said this on Thursday.

"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 reporters.

"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," he added.

The offer was made as Mikhail Margelov, the envoy, who is leading Russia's efforts to end the conflict, arrived in Tripoli for talks with Gaddafi's government.

Western alliance

However, analysts said the offer is unlikely to placate his opponents but it could test the unity of the Western alliance, which was trying to force him out.

The form which the vote proposed by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi would take was not clear.  Libya has never held elections under Gaddafi and has no electoral institutions.

"Clearly the talks in Tripoli will not be easy," Margelov had said.

"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 added.

Reactions

There was no immediate reaction to the offer from the NATO military alliance or the rebels.

Report says Gaddafi is using his political skills, honed decades ago when he was able to survive despite being an international pariah, to try to exploit divisions within the fragile Western alliance ranged against him.

Rebel forces have shown no signs of being able to break through to the capital soon.

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.

REUTERS/Shakira/ Ekata