Libyan rebels, US reject Gaddafi's offer to hold elections

Tripoli (Libya), June 17 (ANI): A son of Libyan dictator Colonel Moammar Gaddafi, has said that he was willing to hold free elections and step aside if he loses, but this offer has been swiftly rejected by the international community. Speaking to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Seif al-Islam Gaddafi said elections could be held within three months, with transparency guaranteed by the presence of international observers. He said his father, who took power in a military coup in 1969, would be ready to step aside if he lost the election but would not go into exile. "I have no doubt that the overwhelming majority of Libyans stand with my father and see the rebels as fanatical Islamist fundamentalists, terrorists stirred up from abroad," Corriere quoted him as saying. According to the Wall Street Journal, Russia and China have urged the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to "meticulously adhere" to United Nations' resolutions authorizing force in the war-torn country. The rebel leadership in Benghazi, eastern Libya, immediately rejected the offer, stressing that the Gaddafi family would have no role in Libyan elections. That stance was echoed by Washington, with State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland saying, "It's a little late for any proposals by Gaddafi and his circles for democratic change....It's time for him to go." (ANI)