French, Libyans see progress in talks

PARIS, July 12 (UPI) -- Libyan and French officials gave more hints Tuesday of talks to get strongman Moammar Gadhafi out of power.

Baghdadi al-Mahmudi, prime minister of Gadhafi's Tripoli government, told the French newspaper Le Figaro he was ready to negotiate with rebels and foreign powers independent of the longtime ruler, Radio France Internationale reported Tuesday.

"We are ready to negotiate unconditionally," he said. "We simply want a stop to the bombardments. We cannot talk as bombs rain down."

France denies direct talks with Gadhafi, but Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told France Info radio, "We are meeting envoys who say to us: Look, Gadhafi is ready to go. Let's talk about it."

Mahmud Shamman, spokesman for the rebel National Transitional Council in Benghazi, said it would respond only to serious proposals to remove Gadhafi.

In the western mountains of Nafusa, the rebels are slowly but steadily advancing on Tripoli, France 24 reports.

They took village of Gaoulich last week, aided by weapons parachuted by France and NATO air support. Their next target is al-Asabah, a pro-regime garrison town, the news agency said.

The inexperienced rebels have formed a unified command.