Libyan rebels, backed forcefully by European leaders, rejected a cease-fire proposal by African mediators on Monday because it did not insist that Muammar Gaddafi relinquish power.
A day after an announcement that the Libyan leader had accepted the truce, a doctor in rebel-held Misrata said Gaddafi's forces battered that western city and its Mediterranean port with artillery fire that claimed the lives of six people.
"He is the biggest lie in the history of Libya," said Jilal Tajouri, 42, who joined more than 1,000 flag-waving protesters in the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi as the African Union delegation arrived.
"All the people in Libya agree on this: Gaddafi and all his sons must leave Libya so we can have democracy," Tajouri said, echoing the opposition of other demonstrators to any dealmaking while Gaddafi remains in power.
The rebels' leadership council agreed.
"Col. Gaddafi and his sons must leave immediately if he wants to save himself.” If not, the people are coming for him," said Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, a former justice minister who split with Gadhafi and heads the Benghazi-based Transitional National Council.
(AP)
