S Africa's Zuma in Libya for peace talks

South African president to negotiate immediate ceasefire as calls mount for Gaddafi to step down. Last Modified: 30 May 2011 09:41

Libyan community and tribal leaders on Sunday called for an end to violence and the departure of Gaddafi and his sons Jacob Zuma, South Africa's president, has travelled to Tripoli for talks to end Libya's conflict, as calls mount from the international community for Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, to stand down. Zuma's office said the main objectives of his visit on Monday include negotiating an immediate ceasefire, enabling the delivery of humanitarian aid and adopting and implementing reforms to eliminate the causes of the conflict. It rejected as "misleading" reports the talks would focus on an exit strategy for Gaddafi, saying the visit is part of African Union efforts to end the conflict between his forces and rebels fighting to oust him. Libyan state television said that Zuma was going to discuss the implementation of the AU "roadmap" for peace, as it reported fresh NATO raids on the Nafusa mountains in the far west and the town of Bani Walid, near Misurata. In a statement on the eve of Zuma's visit, his ruling African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa condemned the NATO bombing of Libya. "We also join the continent and all peace loving people of the world in condemning the continuing aerial bombardments of Libya by Western forces," it said after a two-day meeting of its executive council. On Friday, G8 leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States called for Gaddafi to step down after more than 40 years in power. The Libyan government responded by saying any initiative to resolve the crisis would have to go through the African Union. "The G8 is an economic summit. We are not concerned by its decisions," said Tripoli's deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaaim. "We are an African country. Any initiative outside the AU framework will be rejected." Tribal leaders call for united front Over the weekend, more than 100 Libyan community and tribal leaders met with members of the opposition National Transitional Council at a conference in Turkey in a bid to show a united front against Gaddafi. The delegates, mostly from the powerful Warfalla clan based in the western city of Baniwalid, were calling for an end to the violence and the departure of Gaddafi and his sons. Baniwalid is said to hold a position of vital strategic importance, and was thus being aggressively targeted by Gaddafi. The meeting was billed as a possible game-changer for the Gaddafi government as the Warfalla are said to have been supporting Gaddafi militarily, especially around the western city of Misurata. In the final statement of the conference, the delegates called on their "brothers in Zletin, Tarhuna, Khums, Msellata and Sirte to join the revolution and to put a swift end to this tyranny". On Monday, Navi Pillay, the UN rights chief, condemned the brutality of the government's crackdown on protesters in Libya and Syria, saying the actions were shocking in their disregard for human rights. "The brutality and magnitude of measures taken by the governments in Libya and now Syria have been particularly shocking in their outright disregard for basic human rights," he said. Meanwhile, also on Monday, two French lawyers said they planned to bring legal proceedings against Nicolas Sarkozy, France's president, for crimes against humanity over the NATO-led military campaign in Libya. Ibrahim Boukhzam, a Libyan justice ministry official in Tripoli, said Jacques Verges and Roland Dumas had offered to represent families he said were victims of the NATO bombing campaign. Dumas said the NATO mission, which was meant to protect civilians, was killing them. He denounced what he described as "a brutal assault against a sovereign country" and said he was ready to defend Gaddafi should he ever be brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague.