Gadhafi calls cease-fire amid intervention

TRIPOLI, Libya -- Trying to outmaneuver Western military intervention, Moammar Gadhafi's government declared a cease-fire Friday against the rebel uprising faltering against his artillery, tanks and warplanes. The opposition said shells rained down well after the announcement and accused the Libyan leader of lying.

Wary of the cease-fire, Britain and France took the lead in plans to enforce a no-fly zone, sending British warplanes to the Mediterranean and announcing a crisis summit in Paris with the UN and Arab allies.

In Washington, President Barack Obama ruled out the use of American ground troops, but warned that the United States would join other nations in military action against Gadhafi if he does not halt his forces' attacks on civilians.

In a joint statement to Gadhafi late Friday, the United States, Britain and France -- backed by unspecified Arab countries -- said a cease-fire must begin "immediately" in Libya, the French presidential palace said.

The statement called on Gadhafi to end his troops' advance toward Benghazi and pull them out of the cities of Misrata, Ajdabiya and Zawiya, and called for the restoration of water, electricity and gas services in all areas. It said Libyans must be able to receive humanitarian aid, or the "international community will make him suffer the consequences" with military action.

Parts of eastern Libya erupted into celebration at Thursday's passage of the UN resolution. But the timing and consequences of any international military action remained unclear.

Two spokesmen for the rebels, Mustafa Gheriani and Khaled Sayh, said shelling continued late Friday in Zintan and Misrata in the west and Ajdabiya in the east.

Libya's deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaim, denied government forces had violated the cease-fire and invited Germany, China, Turkey and Malta to send observers to monitor compliance. "The cease-fire for us means no military operations whatsoever, big or small," he told reporters. Kaim said military forces were positioned outside Benghazi but that the government had no intention of sending them into the city.

He also invited the UN to send a fact-finding mission and claimed the rebels had committed crimes against humanity.

But Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, said Gadhafi is violating the UN resolution. She told CNN the resolution demanded immediate cease-fire.

Gheriani said the opposition is considering calling Gadhafi's bluff by holding new protests in Tripoli and elsewhere in Gadhafi's western strongholds