Moamer Gaddafi vowed Saturday not to quit power in Libya but called for talks to end the conflict

Moamer Gaddafi vowed Saturday not to quit power in Libya but called for talks to end the conflict, even as his forces pressed their offensive against the key rebel-held port city of Misrata.
  
In an early-morning speech on Libyan television, the Libyan leader said NATO "must abandon all hope of the departure of Moamer Gaddafi. "I have no official functions to give up: I will not leave my country and will fight to the death," he said, but also added a conciliatory note. "We are ready to talk with France and the United States, but with no preconditions," Gaddafi said.
  
"We will not surrender, but I call on you to negotiate. If you want petrol, we will sign contracts with your companies -- it is not worth going to war over. "Between Libyans, we can solve our problems without being attacked, so pull back your fleets and your planes," he told NATO.
  
The veteran strongman insisted that the rebels battling his forces "are terrorists who are not from Libya, but from Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia and Afghanistan." He also said that his people love him, that he is sacred and like a father to them -- "more sacred than the emperor of Japan is to his people."
  
Meanwhile, the regime threatened to attack any ships trying to enter the lifeline rebel-held port of Misrata, after tanks launched an assault on the western city some 215 kilometers east of Tripoli.

In Washington, the State Department said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would attend a Libya Contact Group May 4-6 meeting in Rome to discuss how to help the rebels and protect civilians caught in the crossfire. The group composed of Western countries, Turkey, Arab states, the United Nations, the Arab League and NATO, was set up in London on March 29. Medics reported at least five people killed in Misrata on Friday and many more wounded.

British Brigadier Rob Weighill, director of NATO operations in Libya, said NATO warships stopped pro-Gaddafi forces on Friday from laying mines in Misrata's harbor.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, meanwhile, condemned the regime's reported use of banned cluster bombs against civilians, and called for an immediate ceasefire as well as full humanitarian access.