ADDIS ABABA: Libya's foreign minister said Tuesday that Tripoli has asked the African Union to convene an extraordinary summit to find ways for the continent to fight "external forces."

“My delegation proposes the holding as soon as possible of an extraordinary session of the assembly of the (African) Union to identify the ways that enable our continent to mobilise capabilities to face the external forces which aggress against us,” Abdelati Obeidi said.

The minister was speaking at the AU headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to the body's Peace and Security Council as part of talks that began Monday seeking a negotiated settlement to the Libyan conflict.

Obeidi also said Tripoli hoped an AU mediation team would “make further efforts to complete its work in the direction of achieving a peaceful solution” in Libya.

AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Ramtane Lamamra said it is “important to work on the holding of an extraordinary summit devoted to questions of security in Africa and in particular the Libyan conflict.” “Consultations will be launched on the holding of such a summit in the coming weeks,” he said.

“We let this matter (of organising a summit) to the AU,” said Abdallah Alzuberi, who headed a delegation of the Libyan rebel Transitional National Council that was also present at the talks in Addis Ababa.

“We are interacting with the AU on the situation, our views to solve the conflict. The discussions are going very well, we had a very good exchange, we're continuing the discussions,” Alzuberi said.

AU leaders met separately on Monday with the two delegations, calling the talks an “encouraging start” towards a peaceful resolution to the conflict that erupted in February.

On Tuesday, after a new round of meetings devoted mainly to Libya, they met separately again with the two sides.

“We are in the process of collecting their views,” Lamamra said of the talks.

Earlier Lamamra had said “the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya and aerial bombardment by the coalition, and now by NATO, have not brought a solution to the crisis.” “In fact, the military situation on the ground seems to be sliding into a stalemate,” he added.

He also said attempts had been made to “marginalise an African solution to the crisis, specifically the timely implementation of the AU roadmap in a way that is fully consistent with and complementary to UN Security Council resolutions.” The AU has proposed a roadmap to resolve the conflict that would see an immediate ceasefire, humanitarian aid deliveries and talks on a transition.

The rebels, who distrust the AU over its historical links to Muammer Qadhafi, have rejected any negotiated settlement as long as the strongman remains in power.

Kadhafi was a key architect of the transformation of the Organisation of African Unity into the African Union in 2001, and Libya has provided a large part of its financing.

Massive protests in Libya in mid-February, inspired by the revolts that toppled long-time autocrats in Egypt and Tunisia, escalated into war when Qadhafi's troops fired on demonstrators and protesters seized several eastern towns.

An international coalition intervened on March 19, launching air raids and missile strikes under a UN mandate aimed at protecting civilians from Qadhafi's forces fighting the rebellion.

Nato took command of air campaign on March 31. – AFP