Libyan embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi agreed to stay apart from the negotiation process launched by the African Union in a bid to end the four-month old crisis in the African country.

Libyan embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi agreed to stay apart from the negotiation process launched by the African Union in a bid to end the four-month old crisis in the African country.

AU leaders announced the agreement in a statement on Sunday following talks in the South African capital, Pretoria

Heads of states from the Republic of Congo, Mali, Mauritania and Uganda attended the meeting hosted by South African President Jacob Zuma.

"The AU High Level Ad Hoc Committee welcomes Colonel Gaddafi's acceptance of not being part of the negotiation process," AU leaders said in a statement after Sunday's meeting.
"Following the suspension of hostilities ... the Libyan parties should begin the national dialogue for a comprehensive ceasefire, national reconciliation, transitional arrangements, as well as the agenda for democratic transformation."

Many AU leaders, including Zuma, have voiced reservations over NATO's ongoing air campaign against Gaddafi forces, which started last March.

Gaddafi has been a long-time backer of the AU and a forceful advocate for stronger continental integration. He held the pan-African body's rotating chair in 2009 and has twice held talks with members of the panel.

Zuma's government, which currently holds a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, did vote in favor of the UN resolution, accusing Gaddafi of committing a "heinous violation of human rights against his own people" with his crackdown on the anti-government protests.

But he has since been critical of NATO for pursuing regime change, straying far outside the resolution's civilian protection focus.