Gaddafi offers ceasefire,but wont leave

No one can force me to leave my country; no one can tell me not to fight for my country

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Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Saturday he was ready for a ceasefire and negotiations provided NATO stop its planes, but he refused to give up power as rebels and Western powers demand.

The rebels rejected Gaddafis offer,saying he had lost credibility and the time for compromise had passed.

Weeks of Western airstrikes have failed to dislodge the Libyan leader. With neither side apparently able to gain the upper hand,Gaddafi struck a more conciliatory tone in an 80-minute televised address to the nation in the early hours of Saturday.

Libya is ready until now to enter a ceasefire, said Gaddafi,speaking from behind a desk and aided by reams of paper covered in what appeared to be hand-written notes.

We were the first to welcome a ceasefire8230; the first to accept a ceasefire8230; but the Crusader NATO attack has not stopped, he said. The gate to peace is open.

Gaddafi denied mass attacks on civilians and challenged NATO to find him 1,000 people killed in the conflict. We did not attack them or cross the sea8230; why are they attacking us? asked Gaddafi.Let us negotiate with you,the countries that attack us.

But as he spoke,NATO warplanes hit three targets close to the television building in Tripoli in what state media said was an attempt to kill Gaddafi who has ruled for 41 years.

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The airstrikes left a large crater outside the attorney generals office but did not damage the building and hit two other government offices housed in colonial-era buildings.

Abdel Hafiz Ghoga,spokesman for the rebels transitional national council,dismissed Gaddafis gesture,saying the Libyan leader had repeatedly offered truces only to continue violating human rights.

Gaddafis regime has lost all credibility, Ghoga said. The time for compromise has passed. The people of Libya cannot possibly envisage or accept a future Libya in which Gaddafis regime plays any role.

The Libyan leader refused to leave his homeland or step down,the central demand of the rebels,the US,and also of France and Britain which lead the NATO air campaign.

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Im not leaving my country, Gaddafi said. No one can force me to leave my country and no one can tell me not to fight for my country.

Gaddafis forces showed no sign of giving up the fight either,claiming to have captured Misrata on Friday,but NATO said it saw no evidence of that.