LONDON: Italy's foreign minister on Monday demanded diplomats spell out that Muammar Qadhafi and his family can play no role in Libya's future, whatever the outcome of an African Union-brokered peace deal.
Franco Frattini said meetings this week between European foreign ministers, NATO officials and an international contact group on Libya must decisively call for Qadhafi's ouster, and should insist that any participation by his family in a transitional government would be unacceptable.
''The sons and the family of Qadhafi cannot participate in the political future of Libya,'' Frattini told France's Europe-1 radio, ahead of a visit to London for talks with British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
Frattini's comments follow Qadhafi’s acceptance of the AU's plan, which calls for an immediate cease-fire, cooperation in opening channels for humanitarian aid and the start of talks between the rebels and the government.
Some suspect Qadhafi's agreement could be a tactic to stall for time, allowing his forces to rearm and regroup amid a military stalemate with rebel fighters.
The AU plan makes no specific mention of any requirement for Qadhafi to withdraw his troops from Libya's cities as rebels have demanded.
British Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman Steve Field told reporters that NATO's airstrikes would not be halted without genuine proof Qadhafi was abiding by a cease-fire.
''Whether or not there is a cease-fire, that is in Qadhafi's hands. We have to judge him by what he does, not what he says,'' Field said.
Frattini said diplomats must increase pressure on Qadhafi in the coming days, fearing the current deadlock could serve to strengthen Qadhafi's position. ''We cannot give the impression of allowing the consolidation of the status quo on the ground,'' he said.
He said Qadhafi's retreat from power should take place alongside a cease-fire, and happen in ''weeks, not months.''
Frattini also insisted the international community could not consider any proposal to partition Libya between the opposition-controlled eastern cities and Qadhafi's strongholds in the country's west.
''We cannot accept that. That would be the failure of the international operation,'' he said.
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