Leaders talk to Libya rebels

THE Libyan government said it was in talks with rebel leaders, but a resolution to the conflict seems slim as both sides stuck to entrenched positions on the fate of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

His son, Saif al-Islam, in combative form, told a French newspaper there was no question of negotiating an end to his father’s 42-year rule, while the rebels, stepping back from a hint of a concession, renewed their demand that he go now.

A spokesman for Gaddafi’s administration said high-ranking government officials had been in foreign-mediated talks in Italy, Egypt and Norway with opposition figures to try to find a peace deal, and that talks were still going on.