WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton renewed calls Monday for Colonel Moamer Qadhafi to step down from power and leave Libya but stopped short of making it a non-negotiable demand.
Clinton also appeared open to a peace deal that the African Union (AU) said it has reached with Colonel Qadhafi, saying it needed full details of the plan before commenting further.
The European Union, which has coordinated closely with the United States, said meanwhile it backed the African Union's diplomatic efforts to bring a peaceful end to the weeks-old conflict in Libya.
"We have made it very clear that we want to see a ceasefire, we want to see the Libyan regime forces pull back from the areas they have forcibly entered," Clinton told a press conference.
"We want to see a resumption of water, electricity and other services to cities that have been brutalized by the Qadhafi forces," she said when asked for comment on the AU peace plan.
"We want to see humanitarian assistance reach the people of Libya. These terms are non-negotiable," she said.
"We believe, too, that there needs to be a transition that reflects the will of the Libyan people and the departure of Qadhafi from power and from Libya," she said.
"So we have been consistent along with many of our international partners in making those points to be as clear as possible... So we'll wait to get the full briefing as to what the African Union delegation determined," she said.
South African President Jacob Zuma said in Tripoli on Sunday that Qadhafi's regime has accepted an African Union (AU) peace plan designed to end the current conflict.
Besides Zuma, the AU delegation includes three other African leaders: Mali's Amadou Toumani Toure, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania and Congo's Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo.
A UN Security Council resolution that paved the way for western military strikes in Libya on March 19 called for a ceasefire, a withdrawal of Qadhafi's security forces, and the provision of humanitarian aid.
"Our response to the quote, unquote, ceasefire is what matters here are actions and not words," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.
"Colonel Qadhafi and his regime know full well what they need to do," he said, adding that Washington was not letting up in implementing the UN Security Council resolution in any way.
"The implementation continues and will continue as long as necessary," Carney said.
"We continue to pursue our diplomatic and economic measures to tighten to noose around Qadhafi."
A senior State Department official told AFP last week on the condition of anonymity that many African leaders were "afraid" to challenge Qadhafi because he has invested so much economically in their countries.
Countries the diplomat put in that category were Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Ghana.
"In my view, in West Africa, the only country that has the guts to stand up to him is Nigeria, and down south, it's probably South Africa," he said.
The African Union last week condemned the Western military intervention in Libya, launched March 19, and has avoided calling for Qadhafi's departure since it announced its own peacemaking efforts in Addis Ababa last month.
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