Tripoli:
South African President Jacob Zuma arrived in Tripoli on Monday for talks with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
It is his second visit to Libya's capital to try to secure a ceasefire between Gaddafi's forces and rebel fighters.
Zuma's arrival at Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziyah compound was greeted with all the requisite fanfare by Gaddafi's beleaguered regime.
Dozens of Gaddafi supporters, bussed in for the welcoming, waved green Libyan flags and chanted slogans denouncing the NATO bombing campaign against Libyan government targets.
After their meeting Zuma told reporters that Gaddafi had said the Libyan people should "be given the chance to talk among themselves to solve their problems".
He also said Gaddafi was "ready to implement the roadmap of the AU" (African Union), which requires both the government and the rebels to begin an unconditional ceasefire.
But the South African president did not say Gaddafi is ready to step down, which is the central demand of the rebels.
In April, Zuma also led an AU delegation to Tripoli with similar hopes of brokering a truce.
At that time, Gaddafi said he would accept a ceasefire but quickly ignored it and resumed his attacks.
The rebels, meanwhile, rejected the proposals out of hand because they did not include Gaddafi's exit from power.
Since then many ceasefire efforts have failed for similar reasons.