The Libyan government has an answer to rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil's demand earlier today that Muammar Qaddafi withdraw his forces from Libyan cities in exchange for a ceasefire: No.

"They are asking us to withdraw from our own cities," said government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim, according to Reuters. "If this is not mad then I don't know what this is."

The regime's defiant stance comes on a day when Qaddafi's forces attacked the besieged, rebel-held city of Misrata in the west with tanks and artillery, according to a rebel spokesman. In a report that has yet to be confirmed by coalition officials, a Libyan doctor told the BBC that a coalition air strike on a Qaddafi convoy on Wednesday killed seven civilians and wounded 25 more in eastern Libya, where rebel forces are clashing with Qaddafi's troops.

Even as it laid out its terms for a ceasefire, the opposition appeared to be making an effort to organize rebel fighters into a more disciplined fighting force. Opposition commanders in the eastern town of Ajdabiya only allowed "experienced" fighters into the city today, according to Al Jazeera.

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Uri Friedman