Libya: Gaddafi Still Laughing at 'Agents of Colonialism'

As news emerged of diplomatic efforts and negotiations to finally put an end to the five-month conflict centered on the establishment of a five-man interim government led by the National Transitional Council (NTC), it seems Col. Moammar Gadhafi is still amused by reports that he would be prepared to step down.

Frustrated by the lack of ground-breaking advances and with support for the leader still quite important in Tripoli, the rebels appear ready to make more concessions.

According to sources, the new deal would involve both camps, with each side proposing two leading officials to an interim council, and each agreeing on the appointment of a fifth.

Russian officials have also added that the UK is engaged in ''frantic'' efforts to end the five-month conflict within weeks -- re-launching speculation that tired of leading the NATO-led mission in Libya, both London and Paris want to see a solution that will bring the conflict to an end as soon as possible.

The allegations however, are set to anger the two countries, which whilst insisting they are working hard to stop the confrontation, will not appreciate Russia implying they are desperate to get out of the Libyan conundrum.

This week, Foreign Secretary William Hague caused a stir after he conceded on Monday that Col. Gadhafi could stay in Libya, should he accept to step down.

Despite the British politician insisting the final word on Gadhafi's future should be left for the Libyan people to decide, many were amazed at the UK's new attitude toward him.

Just a few months ago, the Libyan leader was clearly the No. 1 enemy, leading the UK to take a leading position in the operation in Libya. The decision of Luis Moreno Ocampo, the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC), to issue arrest warrants against Gadhafi, his son, Saif al-Islam, and Abdullah al-Senussi, head of Libya's state security services, was welcomed by David Cameron and other UK officials.

At the time, the need to bring the Libyan leader to justice was seen as a necessity, and a cause of worry for the international community as a whole not just to the Libyan people.

Meanwhile, while analysts and observers try to understand and analyze the position of all the different countries involved in the negotiation, Gadhafi, loyal to himself, is still laughing at the agitation and attention he causes.

Still defying the rebels and the rest of the world, the colonel says his troops are ready for a potential rebel/NATO assault on Tripoli.

"We are here waiting for you. And so are the Mediterranean fish," Gadhafi said in an audio message broadcast on state Libyan television late on Wednesday.

In his message the leader calls on his supporters to march to Misrata, Libya's third biggest city, to get rid of what he described as "tyrants, traitors and agents of colonialism."

Meanwhile, Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khalid Kaim slammed Britain's decision to recognize the rebel Transitional National Council as the sole governmental representative of the people in Libya and to ask all the Gadhafi regime diplomats to leave the country as "irresponsible" and "illegal."

He told the BBC that the decision violated the British and international laws and threatened the Gadhafi government was planning to take legal action against the British move.