TRIPOLI (AFP) – Libya's government said Tuesday it is ready to negotiate reforms but dashed Western hopes that Moamer Kadhafi may step down, saying he is a unifying figure after ruling the nation for four decades.
Kadhafi's son Seif al-Islam meanwhile dismissed former foreign minister Mussa Kussa, who defected to the West last week, as just a "sick and old" man who had succumbed to the psychological pressures of war.
Libyan government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told journalists in Tripoli that everything except the departure of Kadhafi was negotiable.
"What kind of political system is implemented in the country? This is negotiable, we can talk about it," Ibrahim said. "We can have anything, elections, referendums."
But Kadhafi's future was sacrosanct, he stressed, only hours after opposition rebels flatly rejected a reported peace deal that could see the embattled leader's son take charge of the north African nation.
Kadhafi was "the safety valve" for the unity of the country's tribes and people, Ibrahim said. "We think he is very important to lead any transition to a democratic and transparent model."
13 years ago
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