Libya announces immediate ceasefire

"Libya has decided an immediate ceasefire and an immediate halt to all military operations," Foreign Minister Mussa Kussa said as a coalition of Western and Arab nations geared up to launch air strikes after the UN approved military action to stop Kadhafi from crushing an insurgency.

Kussa said that Libya, as a member of the United Nations, was "obliged to accept the UN Security Council\'s resolutions."

Meeting on Thursday, the Security Council voted to permit "all necessary measures" to establish a no-fly zone, protect civilian areas and impose a ceasefire on Kadhafi\'s military.

Resolution 1973 "demands the immediate establishment of a ceasefire and a complete end to violence and all attacks against, and abuses of, civilians."

The ceasefire was derided by the commander of rebels forces, at their bastion in the eastern city of Benghazi, who accused Kadhafi of "bluffing."

Khalifa Heftir told a news conference: "Kadhafi does not speak any truth... All the world knows that Moamer Kadhafi is a liar. He and his sons, and his family, and all those with him are liars."

The ceasefire announcement came only hours after Kadhafi said in an interview on Portuguese television that the council had "no mandate" for such a resolution, "which we absolutely do not recognise."

"This is not a war between two countries that permits the council to intervene," he argued. The UN Charter "does not permit interference in the domestic affairs" of a country.

Meanwhile, NATO said it would discuss Friday what role the alliance may take, and the Arab League said UN chief Ban Ki-moon will attend a high-level meeting of European Union, Arab League and African Union officials in Paris on Saturday.

So far Belgium, Britain, France, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Qatar and the United States have said they will help to enforce the no-fly zone.

French government spokesman Francois Baroin said Friday the strikes will come "rapidly... within a few hours."

The aim would be to "protect the Libyan people and to allow them to go all the way in their drive for freedom, which means bringing down the Kadhafi regime," he said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron told the House of Commons "we will deploy Tornado and Typhoon as well as air-to-air refuelling and surveillance aircraft. Preparations to deploy these have already started and in the coming hours they will move to airbases from where they can take the necessary action," he said.

Britain has an airbase on the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus and also has two frigates, HMS Cumberland and HMS Westminster, already in the Mediterranean.

There was no immediate indication of what might be targeted, but last week a source close to Sarkozy said the French president was looking at Kadhafi\'s Bab al-Azizia command headquarters in Tripoli, a military air base in Sirte, east of Tripoli, and another in Sebha in the south.

Meanwhile, Libya denied reports it was shutting down its air space, but European governments decided to ban all civilian flights to the country, Europe\'s air traffic agency said.

Egypt also suspended all flights to Libya.

Earlier on Friday, rebels in Misrata, a bastion of the insurrection east of Tripoli, said Kadhafi\'s forces were pounding the city after a night of heavy gunfire.

"Dozens of bombs of all sorts have fallen on the city since last night," a spokesman told AFP, adding that the bombing was "still intense."

Clashes were also reported in the western towns of Nalut and Zintan.

The United Nations has estimated more than 1,000 people have been killed in what is now a month of fighting.

US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said the resolution should send a strong message "that the violence must stop, the killing must stop and the people of Libya must be protected and have the opportunity to express themselves freely."

In The Hague, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court warned the Libyan government that any indiscriminate attack on civilians in Benghazi would constitute "war crimes."

"Any indiscriminate attack against civilians would constitute war crimes," Luis Moreno-Ocampo said. "The commanders will be responsible. As the prosecutor of the ICC, I will request an arrest warrant against them."

On March 3, Moreno-Ocampo announced a probe into Kadhafi, three of his sons and key aides for crimes against humanity arising from the bloody crackdown. The probe could be expanded to include war crimes.

Announcing the ceasefire, Libya\'s foreign minister said Tripoli was encouraging the "opening of channels of dialogue with all parties," although he did not elaborate.

However, he said he "deeply regretted" the resolution, which he said would "aggravate the suffering of the Libyan people."

The people of Benghazi erupted with fireworks and joyful gunfire after news spread of the UN resolution.

Celebrations in Libya\'s second city, the stronghold of the month-long mainly eastern rebellion against Kadhafi\'s iron-fisted four-decade rule, carried on through the night.

Tracer bullets and anti-aircraft fire ripped through the night sky, punctuated by the blaring of car horns.

Kadhafi, in a broadcast just hours before the vote, had warned his forces would attack Benghazi on Thursday night and show "no mercy."

"We will chase the traitors from Benghazi," he said, addressing his troops. "Destroy their fortifications. Show them no mercy. The world needs to see Benghazi free."

Meanwhile, up to 2,500 people will need to be evacuated from Libya\'s borders with Tunisia and Egypt for the foreseeable future in one of the biggest humanitarian evacuations in history, the UN refugee agency and International Organisation for Migration said Friday.

Some 300,000 people have fled Libya since clashes broke out between rebels and pro-regime forces, and many more are expected to leave, the agencies said.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, 32 people were killed and more than 200 wounded during an anti-government demonstration in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Friday, medics and witnesses said.

Thousands of Shiites protested after Friday prayers in Sunni-ruled Bahrain, in defiance of martial law and a deadly crackdown by the strategic Gulf kingdom\'s security forces.

And Saudi King Abdullah warned security forces would "hit" whomever "considers" undermining the kingdom\'s security and stability, in a televised speech coupled with an announcement of improved social benefits.

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