African Union dodges issue of Gadhafi's role (AP)

MALABO, Equatorial Guinea – Africa's heads of state signed off on a road map designed to help Libya emerge from civil war, but carefully dodged the issue of what role the country's entrenched dictator Moammar Gadhafi should play in its future government.

The proposal adopted by the 53-nation body comes after a delegation from the African Union traveled to Libya, meeting both with Gadhafi and the rebels attempting to overthrow him in an effort to mediate a solution. The rebels had said that a precondition was that Gadhafi must leave power before any negotiations can take place.

The road map agreed upon by the African leaders at this week's African Union summit states that Gadhafi has agreed to "an inclusive dialogue process" that will include the rebels. He had furthermore agreed not to take part in these negotiations.

However, the AU proposal does not say that Gadhafi should step down, and it does not make clear whether he would be allowed to play a part in the proposed transitional government, whose shape is to be determined during the talks.

Among the only guidance it provides is that the transitional period "will be underpinned by ... inclusivity in order to bring on board all stakeholders" and "consensus as a way to providing broad based support to all decisions that will be undertaken during the transition."

AU leaders refused to answer whether or not that language opens the door for Gadhafi to be a member of the new government, even if he did not take part in the negotiations to create it.

Gadhafi's chief of staff Bashir Saleh and the other representatives of the Libyan government called it a step forward. "I think it's a good thing as it will allow all the parties to come together and find a solution." The spokesman for the rebel delegation could not immediately be reached for comment.

Saleh denied that support for Gadhafi among his African peers is waning, even though several diplomats said that a majority of AU leaders are now in favor of him stepping down, even if they are not willing to say so publicly.

Several Western observers including one that was inside the closed-door session during the debate said that the AU was divided between those wanting the body to issue a statement calling for Gadhafi's departure and those arguing that Gadhafi is an elected head of state and cannot be forced out.

"The idea of his departure is illogical," said Saleh. "He's the head of state," said Saleh. "How can you ask someone to leave his own house?"

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Senator: Gadhafi's military seriously degraded (AP)

WASHINGTON – Constant pounding from NATO warplanes has significantly undermined Moammar Gadhafi's military forces and weakened the Libyan leader's political standing, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Friday.

Speaking after a classified Pentagon assessment of the nearly 3-month-old campaign, Sen. Carl Levin said he's satisfied that "NATO operations are going well, they're coordinated, and we have not lost one person yet."

Levin based his assessment on a series of recent NATO strikes on the capital of Tripoli and the surrounding area, in the face of Gadhafi's vow to fight to the death. Determined to push back the rebels, Gadhafi's forces have hit the outskirts of the rebel-held city of Misarata.

"I'm satisfied that Gadhafi's military has been seriously degraded, that politically he's been significantly weakened," Levin, D-Mich., told reporters after emerging from the closed briefing. He said that a sustained NATO operation and the potential involvement of other allied countries will be critical but that "things are going in the right direction in Libya."

The senator said the administration offered no timeline on when operations would end or Gadhafi would leave. But Levin dismissed suggestions that the civil war is at a stalemate.

"Gadhafi's being weakened significantly and continually degraded and there's now an addition of helicopters from two others countries, I believe French and British, able to pick off his tanks in a very careful way without collateral damage," the senator said.

Congressional Democrats and Republicans have been pressing the Obama administration for details on the operation, and the briefing was the second for senators in two days. Levin and Sen. Pete Sessions, R-Ala., were the only two senators at Friday's meeting as the Senate was not in session and most lawmakers had left Washington.

"It's sort of a fait accompli," Sessions said of the Libya operation. "The administration has gone off with this operation which hopefully will be successful."

Last week, the House voted to rebuke President Barack Obama for failing to get authorization from Congress when he ordered airstrikes beginning March 19 against Gadhafi's forces. The Constitution says Congress has the power to declare war, and the 1973 War Powers Resolution requires the president to obtain congressional authorization within 60 days of the start of military operations, a deadline that passed last month.

Levin said he didn't think a majority opposed the U.S. support role in the NATO operation that includes American intelligence, surveillance and the use of Predator drones. But the frustration was evident in the House, nevertheless.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, insisted in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that the administration comply with the House resolution's request for a report on the scope, costs and other details of the Libyan operation as well as the rationale. The report is due by the end of next week.

"Setting forth that case with specificity is critical to addressing the mistrust that is building and, in turn, critical to mission success," Ros-Lehtinen wrote.

In a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., pressed for the administration to cooperate and provide the report, warning of the consequences if it ignores Congress.

"While members respect the president's authority as commander in chief, it is quite possible that a resolution of disapproval could pass the House, unless the administration provides the information necessary for Congress to conduct constitutional oversight," McKeon wrote.

Separately, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, wrote to Attorney General Eric Holder asking for all Justice Department documents related to the Libyan operation.

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Gadhafi's purported wife rips NATO

Tripoli (CNN) -- A woman believed to be Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's wife lashed out at NATO during an exclusive interview Friday with CNN, even as she expressed despair for her family's and her nation's plight -- saying, "Life has no value now."

Safia Farkash Gadhafi, who married Moammar Gadhafi in 1970 a year after he rose to power in the North African nation, is not thought to have ever previously spoken on the record with members of the Libyan or international media.

CNN cannot 100% confirm that the woman who spoke Friday is Moammar Gadhafi's wife, as Libyan authorities barred CNN from using its phone for fear the call might be tracked. But the interview was arranged by someone CNN knows to be Safia Gadhafi's office manager and by officials in Libya's foreign ministry.

In the interview, the woman ripped NATO for the death of one of her children, Saif al-Arab Gadhafi, who Libyan officials reported was killed by an airstrike late last month. The alliance has launched regular attacks in Libya in recent months, in pursuit of its stated mission to halt the killing of innocent civilians by Gadhafi's forces.

Russia now calling on Gadhafi to step down

Gadhafi's purported wife said four explosive projectiles were fired into one house after the evening Muslim prayer, a timing that she criticized and said was common. She disputed an earlier account, offered by Libyan government spokesman Musa Ibrahim, that both she and her husband were in the building at the time of the strike.

"I was not there, but I wished that I was, so that I may die with (Saif al-Arab)," the woman said.

Several of Moammar Gadhafi's eight surviving children -- six born to Safia, one born to her husband's first wife, plus one adopted child -- are believed to have taken roles in their father's government, including military commander Khamis Gadhafi and high-profile official Saif al-Islam Gadhafi. Yet the woman thought to be Safia Gadhafi said they should be off-limits from NATO strikes, which she claimed were killing innocents around Libya.

Libya Q&A: What you need to know

"My children are civilians, and they have been targeted. What do they have to do with this?" the woman told CNN.

Less than two weeks ago, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court sought the arrest of Moammar Gadhafi and two relatives -- one of them Saif al-Islam, Safia's eldest son -- linking them to "widespread and systematic" attacks on civilians. But the woman claiming to be Safia Gadhafi said international legal authorities are going after the wrong people.

"I want them to prosecute NATO. They killed my son and the Libyan people," she said.

"They are defaming our reputation.They are committing war crimes, and accusing us of embezzling billions from the Libyan people. My conscience wouldn't allow such things."

The Libyan leader's purported wife expressed exasperation about the situation, with scores of countries allied against her husband's regime. She vowed that "we will live or die alongside the Libyan people," predicting her husband, his government and his forces will be vindicated.

"What would I want with life now? All I want out of life now is that the truth be heard," the woman said. "In the end, history will judge us."

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NATO leader: 'Gadhafi's time is over'

Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi stands outside a tent erected at his Bab al-Aziziya residence in Tripoli on April 10, 2011.Rasmussen cites the 'wind of change' in the Arab worldThere's no way to gauge the end of the mission, Rasmussen saysNATO planes strike more targets in Libya

(CNN) -- NATO's leader confidently proclaimed on Sunday that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's days are numbered, but he couldn't foresee how long the alliance's grinding mission to protect besieged civilians will last.

"The game is over for Gadhafi," NATO's Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told CNN's "State of the Union." "He should realize sooner rather than later that there's no future for him or his regime."

Rasmussen, a former Danish prime minister, believes Gadhafi will be ushered out of power amid the "wind of change" sweeping across North Africa and the Middle East, and the dramatic military strides in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"This week we have seen a major blow to al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden's evil vision of conflict as a means to create conflict between the Muslim world and the rest of the world. And in Afghanistan, the Taliban is under pressure everywhere, so basically I am very optimistic," he said, making reference to the killing of bin Laden by U.S. Navy SEALs on Monday in Pakistan.

The alliance has been carrying out a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for the protection of civilians from the Gadhafi regime by any means necessary, and since March 31, its planes have been pounding targets across the country.

According to NATO's latest daily operational update, NATO planes struck several targets on Sunday, including an ammunition storage site in the Zintan region, tanks in Misrata and Ajdabiya, military vehicles in al-Brega, and headquarters compound buildings and ammunition and vehicle storage facilities in Hun, south of Sirte.

There have been widespread assumptions among experts that the conflict between pro- and anti-Gadhafi forces will continue to be a stalemate for some time. Rasmussen was asked when the NATO operation would be completed but all he could say was "it needs an end of the mission."

"We have defined three very clear military objectives," he said. "Firstly, a complete end to all attacks against civilians. Secondly, a free and unhindered and immediate access for humanitarian assistance. And thirdly, a withdrawal of Gadhafi military forces and paramilitary forces to their bases and barracks. When these objectives are fulfilled, our mission is accomplished."

He said "it's hard to imagine" that the "outrageous and systematic attacks" by pro-Gadhafi forces against Libyans will halt as along as Gadhafi stays in power.

He said there needs to be a political and not a military solution with a "peaceful transition to democracy" as Gadhafi leaves power.

But the conflict rages on. The Tunisian state news-agency reported on Sunday that 50 people were injured when government forces and rebels clashed near the Tunisian-Libyan border on Saturday.

Gadhafi's forces on Saturday bombed key fuel depots in the besieged city of Misrata, destroying six containers and causing a massive fire, a rebel spokesman said.

Meanwhile, in the de facto rebel capital, Benghazi, the Libyan opposition said Saturday that Italy has agreed to arm the rebels.

Abdul Hafiz Ghoga, deputy chairman of the National Transitional Council, said opposition representatives have flown to Italy to finish the deal.

The Italian Foreign Ministry categorically denied it will send weapons to Libya. A press office spokesman said Italy will only go as far as sending non-lethal weapons such as satellite and radar systems to aid the rebels.

The rebels, intent on winning on the ground without foreign troops, have been asking for arms supplies as the war rages in cities like Misrata.

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