Gadhafi Regime Rejects 'Mad' Ceasefire Offer

Moammar Gadhafi's regime scoffed at a ceasefire offer from rebels yesterday and continued to attack rebel-held areas in the east and west of the country. The leader of the rebels' national council offered a ceasefire if Gadhafi's forces withdrew from besieged cities and allowed peaceful protests against the regime, reports the Los Angeles Times. He said the rebels' main demand is still the departure of Gadhafi and his sons from Libya.

A regime spokesman dismissed the truce offer as a trick. "The rebels never offered peace. They don't offer peace. They are making impossible demands," he said. "If this is not mad, I don't know what is," he added. "We will not leave our cities. We are the government, not them." A rebel spokesman says Gadhafi's forces attacked civilian targets in the city of Misurata yesterday. "Many people died. Many tanks attacked from many directions," a Misurata resident said. "They are trying to cut the food around us. They're trying to surround us. They are entering people's homes and slitting throats." (More Libya stories.)