The targeted air strike from which Muammar Gaddafi escaped but his youngest son and three grandsons were reportedly killed came within hours of the rejection of another offer of a peace deal from the Libyan leader. No such agreement is possible, says the Western coalition and the rebel administration it has sponsored, while Colonel Gaddafi and his family stay in the country. The dictator and his immediate relations can have no part in shaping post-regime Libya, they say.
The rebels have backed down from their previous stance that Colonel Gaddafi and his coterie should be tried for human rights abuses and the theft of vast sums of public money. But he shows no inclination of going into exile and this is the biggest obstacle to any exit strategy for Nato from a conflict that is
