Libyan rebel leaders yesterday flatly rejected an African Union peace plan for their country because they said it would leave Muammar Gaddafi in power.

Dismissing the plan as not meeting even their basic demands, rebel spokesman Abdel Hafiz Ghoga said bluntly “we have rejected it”.

“It did not include the departure of Gaddafi, his sons and his inner circle. We have repeated this (demand) on more than one occasion.” His comments come after an African Union summit on Friday in Equatorial Guinea, where the continental grouping adopted a plan for negotiations between the warring Libyan parties. The agreement contained no direct criticism of Colonel Gaddafi and even called for an amnesty for crimes during the conflict and the unfreezing of Libyan assets abroad. The African Union also decided that its members would not execute an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Col Gaddafi.

That was a non-starter for Libya’s rebel council according to Mr Ghoga.

“Any future proposals must not include a future (in power) for Gaddafi and his inner circle,” said Mr Ghoga.

Meanwhile buoyed by French arms drops and intensified Nato air strikes on the regime’s frontline armour, Libya’s rebel army said it is poised for an offensive that could put it within striking distance of Tripoli. The rebels’ announcement came as a prolonged deadlock on the battlefield prompted mounting pressure from countries outside the Nato-led coalition for a negotiated solution to a conflict that has dragged on for four and a half months. South Africa, which has taken a lead role in mediation efforts, said that President Jacob Zuma would hold talks in Moscow today with representatives of the International Contact Group on Libya as well as Russian officials.

Politically, the rebel National Transitional Council received a boost on Sunday when Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Ankara recognised the NTC as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people. Rebel fighters are readying an advance out of their hilltop enclave in the Nafusa Mountains, southwest of Tripoli, in the next 48 hours in a bid to recapture territory in the plains on the road to the capital, spokesman Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani said.