Libya offers to pull troops from cities

TRIPOLI, Libya, May 20 (UPI) -- The government of Col. Moammar Gadhafi will pull its forces out of Libyan cities if NATO ends airstrikes and rebels also pull back, a spokesman said Thursday.

Moussa Ibrahim, the government's senior spokesman, said the offer includes a bigger pullback than past ones, The Washington Post reported. The government declared a cease-fire in March but never stopped fighting.

"We are prepared to withdraw our army from our cities," Ibrahim said.

Ibrahim described U.S. President Barack Obama as "delusional" for saying in his major speech on Mideast Policy Thursday that Gadhafi will not be at the head of the Libyan state much longer. Gadhafi, 68, took power in 1969 in a coup.