Libyan Rebels Agree to AU’s Cease-fire Plan

African Union Summit

Libya’s National Transitional Council has approved a plan laid out by the African Union, which implies negotiating with the government in power, in what is seen by some analysts as a way to prepare a transitional period after Qaddafi.

The members of the African Union convened in a biannual summit in which they agreed to a plan that includes the cease-fire between parties in Libya, and negotiations between them, without Qaddafi.

The negotiations will be conducted in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, and are meant to outline a plan for transition and future elections.

The Council’s representative to France said that not being involved in the talks means that Muammar al Qaddafi “will not be part of the future of Libya.”

Libyan Rebels

The plan was the result of two days of consultations in the capital of Equatorial Guinea, Malabo, and demands that international peacekeepers supervise the observance of the cease-fire, and that the freeze on some Libyan goods be lifted by the U.N. Security Council.

The AU summit also slammed the ICC arrest warrant against Qaddafi as discriminating against Africans, and announced the member countries are not going to serve it.

They asked the United Nations Security Council to annul the warrant issued by the ICC in the name of the Libyan leader earlier this week.

They also said an amnesty law should be passed in Libya, and the members of the transitional council said there won’t be any pull out of fighters and cease-fire until some previous conditions have been met.

Update: Latest reports indicate that the Transitional Council in Benghazi eventually rejected the plan because it had no specification regarding the immediate ouster of Qaddafi, and because the AU advised the countries not to serve the ICC arrest warrant.