Gadhafi's Golden Offer: Leave Office, But Stay in Libya

France proposed today a plan that would allow Moammar Gadhafi to remain in Libya if he leaves office, but Libyan rebel emissaries in Paris for meetings say it may be too late for that option.

"I don't think there is a place for him. He is a criminal now," Transitional National Council representative Souleiman Fortia said after the meeting with French President Nicholas Sarkozy.

Foreign Minister Alain Juppe floated the idea of allowing Gadhafi to remain in Libya if he steps down during an interview on French LCI television.

"One of the scenarios effectively envisaged is that he stays in Libya on one condition which I repeat -- that he very clearly steps aside from Libyan political life," Juppe said. "A ceasefire depends on Gaddafi committing clearly and formally to surrender his military and civilian roles."

Libyan Foreign Minister Abdelati Obeidi, meanwhile, is in Moscow, but claimed after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that there is no talk of Gadhafi giving up power.

"Gadhafi's departure is not being discussed," Obeidi told the Russian Interfax news agency.

The diplomatic push came after a day of brutal fighting in the oil terminal city of Brega, where the eastern rebel army is once again launching a march west toward Tripoli. The city is said to be heavily mined and there are still remnants of Gadhafi forces in the city limits.

Outside of Brega, Gadhafi forces have disguised motorized artillery with rebel flags and markings to throw off NATO aircraft. NATO has bombed in the Brega area in recent days, in part paving the way for the rebel army.

Brega is in a central coastal region that has gone back and forth at least three times in five months of fighting. The rebels have said they want to take and hold Brega for good this time.

Battle for Brega Lingers amid Push for Diplomacy in Libya

Libyan rebels supported by NATO warplanes in the east are wrapping up the latest Brega campaign, but a few loyalists to Moammar Gadhafi are still fighting on in what may be shaping up as a definitive final battle for the oil port city.

"NATO and the rebels have tried to attack Brega for the last five days," Gadhafi spokesman Moussa Ibrahim boasted in Tripoli. "The only way for them to control Brega is to attack it with nuclear bombs."

Gadhafi's main force has retreated to Ras Lanuf, but left behind a Brega strewn with land mines, according to rebel reports. The rebels outside of Brega also came under artillery fire from Gadhafi's guns.

"It is going to take the revolutionaries at least 10 days to claim full control of Brega," rebel spokesman Abdel Salam told Reuters in Misurata.

In the west, the rebels Nafusa Mountains division is hung up and regrouping outside Gadhafi-held Gharyan, about 60 miles from Tripoli.

The latest offensive by the main rebel force in Brega came after a high-ranking U.S. delegation met with representatives of the regime over the weekend, telling them Gadhafi must go.

Russia criticized the U.S. and 30 other nations who recognized the rebel Transitional National Council as the legitimate government of Libya.

"Those who declare recognition stand fully on the side of one political force in a civil war," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Moscow.

Britain, at Friday's meeting in Istanbul of the Libya Contact Group, also announced it would send four more Tornado jets to join the air campaign.

In oil-related news, Halliburton, which made billions from U.S. taxpayers through as series of somewhat sweetheart deals in the Iraq and Afghan wars, claims it lost $46 billion because of the revolution in Libya, but still reported net profits.

Rebels Scoff at Russian Proposal to Let Gadhafi Go Free

Talk of striking a deal that would allow Moammar Gadhafi to step down without fear of reprisal is back.

This time word comes from Russia, where President Dmitri Medvedev is working as a mediator in talks to try to come to a political solution to the crisis rather than Gadhafi's exit coming at the wrong end of a NATO missile.

Russian newspaper Kommersant is reporting that even France is ready to propose a peaceful exit for Gadhafi.

"The colonel is sending signals that he’s ready to leave power in exchange for a security guarantee," a high-placed source in the Russian government told Kommersant. "And such guarantees are ready to be offered to him."

So far there is no word whether this latest round of talks will bear fruit. Libyan rebel leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil signaled he is not on board with the Russian concept for a negotiated solution to the revolution.

"There is absolutely no current or future possibility for Gadhafi to remain in Libya," Abdul-Jalil said in an email sent to the Associated Press."There is no escape clause for Gadhafi - he must be removed from power and face justice."

Frenzied Diplomacy as NATO Repeatedly Bombs Gadhafi

Updated at 11:45 p.m. edt

Frustrated rebel forces in Misurata claim they are ready to march west ultimately toward Tripoli, but NATO has told them not to advance in fear of unnecessary civilian casualties or friendly fire casualties at the hands of NATO aircraft.

"We should move, we want to move. But Nato told us we must stay here," Salem Shneshah, a rebel Black Brigade medic, told The Guardian of London.

"The red line, we cannot cross," Khalid Alogab, a section commander in the Libyan rebel Black Brigade, told the newspaper. "If we get the order from Nato we can go. We can capture Tarhuga (a town to the east) in two hours."

But rebel army spokesman Commander Ibrahim Betalmal urged patience, expecting the alliance aircraft to soften up resistance from diminishing forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi.

"We have been given instructions to stay on the border," Betalmal said. "No doubt NATO will help a great deal in clearing the way forward for us."

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A Russian envoy is meeting with the Libyan rebels in Benghazi, while a top official in Moammar Gadhafi's cabinet is in Beijing making a plea for Chinese officials not to abandon the shrinking government in Tripoli for the rebels like Moscow is doing.

The diplomatic offensive comes on a day when NATO warplanes launched the largest set of daylight strikes to date in the air campaign, including some low-flying attacks that seemed to taunt the increasingly weakened Gadhafi loyalists.

"So what you’re seeing across the country is a inexorable trend of the regime forces being pushed back, being incapacitated. You’re seeing defections, oftentimes of some very high-profile members of the Qaddafi government, as well as the military," President Obama said at a joint news conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"And I think it is just a matter of time before Qaddafi goes," Obama added.

Some of the NATO bombs hit around Gadhafi's compound, but the defiant dictator still vowed to hang on to power.

"We will not surrender, we welcome death. Martyrdom is a million times better," Gadhafi said in a phone call to state-run television in between attacks. The sound of jets appeared to be heard in the background during the call.

But in a sign of just how isolated Gadhafi has become, Libyan Foreign Minister Abdul-Ati al-Obeidi traveled to China just days after China opened diplomatic relations with the rebel Transitional National Council, the Chinese news agency confirmed. Chinese representatives have now twice met with high-ranking rebel political leaders.

Russia has already flipped on Gadhafi, acknowledging that his days are numbered and he has few powerful friends, if any, to turn to in the world.

To drive home the point, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's envoy to Africa, Mikhail Margelov, met in Benghazi with TNC Chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the Russian news agency confirmed.

NATO Steps it Up in Libya; Russians Irked (Yawn)

Call it the big yawn of the Libya campaign.

Moscow is charging that NATO and the Gulf allies have overstepped the bounds of the United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing an air campaign to prevent further killings by forces under orders from Moammar Gadhafi. Russia abstained from voting on the resolution last month.

The Interfax news agency reported overnight that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov opposes more military action against Gadhafi and will not support another UN resolution that would step up the campaign against the Libyan dictator.

The Russian government's latest round of squawking was apparently triggered by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's decision to contribute warplanes to the NATO-led campaign. Until now Italy has played a key support role, including allowing the use of its air bases to launch attacks and surveillance missions.

NATO is planning to increase attacks on Gadhafi's command and control facilities as well as palaces, The New York Times is reporting today.