Deadline set by rebels for Gaddafi to relinquish power expires

Meanwhile, Britain gave a major boost to the rebels by inviting them to take over the Libyan embassy in London, which the Gaddafi regime slammed, while Washington said it was examining a request by the rebels to recognise the insurgents.

A defiant Gaddafi meanwhile said he was ready to "pay with our lives" to defeat the rebels and the NATO alliance, which he accused of helping him make progress on the ground, namely in the Nafusa western mountains.

NTC chief Mustafa Mohamed Abdel Jalil said the rebels had delivered to UN special envoy Abdul Ilah al-Khatib "a very specific, well-intentioned offer that Gaddafi can stay in Libya under three conditions.

"We made a proposal. The deadline has passed. The proposal has expired," he told reporters of the month-old offer.

Under the offer Gaddafi would have had to step aside and relinquish all responsibilities, his place of residence would be the "choice of the Libyan people" and he would be under "close supervision," Abdel Jalil said.

"The period of this proposal has passed," he said. "We cannot ignore the fact that the people who have been standing against him want him out."

Abdel Jalil added it is "disappointing and unexplainable that the NTC has received a counter-proposal stating that the council, being the representative of the Libyan people, should share responsibilities of government of Libya with theGaddafi regime."

Following visits to the rebel bastion Benghazi and the capital Tripoli, Khatib said Libya's rivals "remain deeply divided on how to reach a political solution."

A statement quoted Khatib as saying both sides "remain far apart on reaching agreement on a political solution" but had reaffirmed to him "their desire to continue to engage with the UN in the search for a solution."