Tripoli, April 11
Muammar Gaddafi agreed to a “road map” proposed by African leaders to end hostilities with the Libyan rebels, as NATO air raids attacked his military’s positions and helped the opposition push back his forces advancing on the opposition strongholds in the east.

While the terms of the “road map” were not clear, the rebels said there was no question of a truce that leaves the Libyan strongman in power.

Jacob Zuma, the South African president who is part of the delegation of African Union leaders in Libya, said they had discussed with Gaddafi the issue of stopping of air attacks by NATO to “give ceasefire a chance”.

Gaddafi made his first appearance in front of the foreign media in weeks when he joined the AU delegation at his Bab al-Aziziyah compound, Al Jazeera said.

The delegation said in a statement that it had decided to go along with a road map adopted in March, which calls for an end to hostilities, “diligent conveying of humanitarian aid” and “dialogue between the Libyan parties”.

It was not clear whether the ceasefire blueprint spells Gaddafi's departure from power as the rebels have been demanding, though the key points of the AU “roadmap” include a clause for political reforms which “meet the aspirations of the Libyan people”, according to the pan-Arab channel.

Ramtane Lamamra, the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, said the issue of Gaddafi’s departure had come up in the talks yesterday but declined to give details.

The announcement was made after the meeting in Tripoli yesterday, hours ahead of which NATO air raids on Gaddafi forces’ tanks in the east helped the rebels push back their rapid advance towards Benghazi. Among other key points in the “roadmap” are protection of civilians, provision of humanitarian aid for Libyans, a dialogue and an inclusive transitional period.

Ahmad Bani, a rebel spokesman, rejected a negotiated outcome to the conflict.

The African delegation is set to meet the rebels in Benghazi as the situation in the country appears to be deadlocked both militarily and politically and the there is no word on actually how the roadmap is going to be implemented, if at all it is accepted by the rebels. — PTI 

Cairo, April 11
Bowing to demands by protesters that ousted President Hosni Mubarak be put on trial, Egyptian prosecutors today ordered the former head of state and his two sons be questioned on violence against pro-democracy protestors and embezzlement.

The summons for appearance for the former Egyptian iron man came just 24-hour after Mubarak came out of his self-imposed seclusion to decry what he termed as an “unjust campaign against him and declared that he did not own any assets abroad.“All measures would be taken to ensure the safety of Mubarak and his sons during their appearance,” the Interior Minister, Mansur Essawy said. But no date was announced, Al Jazeera reported, saying the minister had warned that if Mubarak refused to show up he could face arrest. The police also detained the country's former prime minister Ahmed Nazif as part of investigations into misuse of public fund, the public prosecutor's statement said.

The former president, who was toppled after over three decade in power, said he would cooperate with the prosecutors in the investigations. — PTI 

Tokyo/Fukushima, April 11
A powerful magnitude-7.1 quake rattled Japan’s northeast today amid sombre ceremonies to mark a month since the monster tsunami claimed thousands of lives, forcing evacuation of workers from a radiation-leaking atomic plant around which the exclusion zone was also widened.

The latest tremor, which struck at 5.16 pm local time, shook buildings in Tokyo as well, hours after people across the country fell silent in the memory of nearly 30,000 persons killed or missing in the March 11 mega quake and tsunami.

Japan's Meteorological Agency, however, said the quake measured 7.0 on the Richter Scale and hit at a depth of 10 km. At one time, it issued a tsunami warning of about three-foot high waves for the coastal areas of Ibaraki Prefecture, which was lifted 50 minutes later.

Several minor quakes followed today’s tremor and the agency also warned of possible aftershocks. — PTI 

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Indonesian lawmaker resigns after porn scandal
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5 killed in Belarus metro blast: Media
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Steve Jobs’ life story due in 2012
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Oz man gets 32 years in jail
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