Muammar Gaddafi accepts peace roadmap: South Africa's Jacob Zuma

Muammar Gaddafi has accepted a roadmap for ending the civil war in Libya including an immediate ceasefire, the African Union said on Monday, adding that the issue of his stepping down had also been discussed.

South African President Jacob Zuma, who led a delegation of African leaders at talks in Tripoli, earlier called on NATO to stop air strikes on Libyan government targets to "give ceasefire a chance."

NATO officials were not immediately available for comment.

Rebels have said they will accept nothing less than an end to Gaddafi's four decades in power, but Libyan officials say he will not quit.

Ramtane Lamamra, AU Commissioner for Peace and Security said the issue had come up in the talks but declined to give details. "There was some discussion on this but I cannot report on this. It has to remain confidential."

It's up to the Libyan people to chose their leaders democratically," Lamara told a news conference in Tripoli.

Zuma met Gaddafi for several hours at the Libyan leader's Bab al-Aziziyah compound with four other African heads of state.

"The brother leader delegation has accepted the roadmap as presented by us. We have to give ceasefire a chance," Zuma said, adding that the African delegation would now travel to the eastern city of Benghazi for talks with anti-Gaddafi rebels.

NATO stepped up attacks on Gaddafi's armour on Sunday to weaken the bitter siege of Misrata in the west and disrupt a dangerous advance by Gaddafi's troops in the east.

The alliance said it destroyed 11 tanks on the outskirts of the eastern rebel town of Ajdabiyah, which looked in danger of being overrun on Sunday, and 14 near Misrata, a lone insurgent bastion in the west that has been under siege for six weeks.

There was no sign of any let-up in the fighting and despite the African leaders' peace roadmap hopes of a negotiated settlement looked slim.

A rebel spokesperson rejected a deal with Gaddafi to end the conflict, bloodiest in a series of pro-democracy revolts across the Arab world that have ousted the autocratic leaders of Tunisia and Egypt.

"There is no other solution than the military solution, because this dictator's language is annihilation, and people who speak this language only understand this language," spokesperson Ahmad Bani told al Jazeera television.

NATO said it had increased the tempo of its air operations over the weekend, after rebels accused it of responding too slowly to government attacks.

The insurgents hailed the more muscular approach.

The NATO strikes outside Ajdabiyah on Sunday helped break the biggest assault by Gaddafi's forces on the eastern front for at least a week.

The town is the gateway to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi 150km (90 miles) north up the Mediterranean coast.

A reporter saw six burning hulks surrounded by 15 charred and dismembered bodies in two sites 300 metres (1,000 feet) apart on Ajdabiyah's western approaches which rebels said were hit by air strikes.

"NATO has to do this to help us every single day. That is the only way we are going to win this war," said 25-year-old rebel Tarek Obeidy, standing over the bodies.

The government attack, which began on Saturday, included a fierce artillery and rocket bombardment, while some of Gaddafi's forces, including snipers, penetrated Ajdabiyah. Rebels cowered in alleys for several hours under the bombardment.

The corpses of four rebels were found dumped on a roadside.

"Their throats were slit. They were all shot a few times in the chest as well. I just could not stop crying when I saw them," said rebel Muhammad Saad. "This is becoming tougher and tougher."

But by afternoon rebels looked back in control of Ajdabiyah, commanding key intersections, and the artillery and small arms fire had died down.

Ajdabiyah had been the launch point for insurgents during a week-long fight for the oil port of Brega 70 km (45 miles) further west, and its fall would be a serious loss.

Gaddafi, making his first appearance in front of the foreign media in weeks, joined the visiting African leaders at his Bab al-Aziziyah compound.

He then climbed into a sports utility vehicle and was driven about 50 metres (yards) where he waved through the sunroof and made the "V" for victory sign to a crowd of cheering supporters.

It was Gaddafi's second appearance in two days after he received an ecstatic welcome at a Tripoli school on Saturday.

The appearances, and Gaddafi's upbeat demeanour, confirmed the impression among analysts that his circle has emerged from a period of paralysis and is hunkering down for a long campaign, another sign that mediation will be difficult.

Analysts predict a drawn-out, low-level conflict possibly leading to partition between east and west in the sprawling North African Arab state, a major oil and natural gas producer.

NATO's commander of Libyan operations said the alliance, which took over air strikes against Gaddafi from three Western powers on March 31, had destroyed "a significant percentage" of Gaddafi's armour and ammunition stockpiles east of Tripoli.

Canadian Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard said after Sunday's air attacks: "The situation in Ajdabiyah, and Misrata in particular, is desperate for those Libyans who are being brutally shelled by the (Gaddafi) regime."