Aides close to Moammar Gadhafi are urging the Libyan dictator to crush the resistance in a rebel-held town close to the capital, Tripoli, and then propose a division of the country with the rebels holding the eastern part, rebel sources told The Washington Times on Thursday.
Meanwhile, NATO announced an agreement, after six torturous days of debate, to take over the command of the U.S.-led air war over Libya, which saved the ragtag resistance that was nearly defeated last week.
In another move aimed at opening talks with the rebels, Col. Gadhafi dispatched a “peace convoy” to seek a meeting with the resistance after Friday prayers in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, according to a Libyan businessman close to the provisional government.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, meanwhile, is seeking to push a cease-fire and political solution in a separate meeting between Gadhafi envoys and rebel representatives under the auspices of the African Union in Ethiopia on Friday.
Full story: Gadhafi urged to split Libya with rebels