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CARACAS: Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez called Thursday for talks on his “peace proposal” for Libya, saying it could “stop the madness” in the country.
Chavez, seen as the main ally of ousted strongman Muammar Qadhafi, said he expected a continued conflict following the Libyan leader's call for further resistance.
“The peace proposal of Venezuela and the African Union and many other countries...can stop this madness of the (US) empire and its allies,” Chavez said during a telephone call to state television channel VTV.
The Venezuelan leader has defended Qadhafi since the start of the uprising and has opposed economic sanctions and the Nato intervention. The peace effort Chavez has been touting for months backs negotiations to resolve the crisis, but does not involve ousting his ally.
The comments came as Qadhafi issued a message of defiance from his desert hiding place.
“Prepare yourselves for a gang and guerrilla war, for urban warfare and popular resistance in every town...to defeat the enemy everywhere,” he also said in an audio tape aired on Arab satellite television.
