SIRTE, Libya, July 22 (UPI) -- Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi ruled out any talks with the opposition National Transitional Council or any other groups that oppose him.
"I will not speak to them. There will not be any talks between me and them until Judgment Day," he told a rally in his support in his hometown of Sirte, a stronghold of pro-Gaddafi supporters east of the capital Tripoli.
Foreign journalists were taken to Sirte by the Gadhafi regime on an official trip.
Gadhafi's remarks came amid recent Western and Arab efforts to negotiate an end to a deepening conflict.
Western and Arab officials who met in Istanbul, Turkey, July 15 agreed to devise a set of negotiating principles, saying military action would continue until Gadhafi agreed to a cease-fire and give up all power. A national reconciliation government would then need to be established to create a new Libyan leadership, the officials said.
The National Transitional Council has offered to facilitate the election of a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution and pave the way for free elections. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Wednesday Gadhafi could stay in Libya provided he completely gave up power.
White House spokesman Jay Carney did not disagree with Juppe, saying Gadhafi needed "to be removed from power [or to] remove himself from power -- it is up to the Libyan people to decide what his future is beyond that."
Special U.N. envoy to Libya Abdul-Elah al-Khatib of Jordan was to return to Libya next week for talks with the regime and opposition about a political solution to end the crisis, Western and Arab diplomats said Thursday.
The diplomats said Khatib would work with each side on "sequencing" the linked issues of Gadhafi surrendering power, a cease-fire and talks on a political transition, The Guardian reported.
Gadhafi appeared on official Libyan TV urging Misurata residents and tribal leaders in Tripoli to take back Libya's third-largest city from the rebels who have pushed regime troops away after more than four months of fighting.
"It's impossible to leave Misurata like this," the Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting footage showed Gadhafi saying. "You must go to Misurata -- enter it," even without the arms to confront the rebels.
"Where are the families we know and respect?" he said.
His comments followed reports that key Libyan Gen. Abdul Nabih Zayid, who allegedly commanded the pro-Gadhafi tanks that pushed into Misurata in March, was captured late Wednesday.
The March offensive, with troops loyal to Gadhafi allegedly killing and injuring dozens of unarmed civilians, led to the longest and bloodiest battle of the war to date, NATO officials said.
In late April and early May, rebel counterattacks successfully retook the city, culminating in the fall of the airport and nearby air force base May 11.
"This farce must end," Gadhafi said on state TV. "Shame on you people of Misurata. ... How can you accept this?"
