Libya declares new immediate ceasefire

Libya declared a fresh ceasefire Sunday after a day of bombardment from Western forces seeking to protect civilians from government troops.

"The Libyan armed forces ... have issued a command to all military units to safeguard an immediate ceasefire from 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) this evening," a Libyan army spokesman said, according to an official interpreter.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been using tanks and artillery to try to crush an uprising against his four-decade rule.

Minutes before the army spokesman made the announcement, heavy anti-aircraft gunfire boomed above central Tripoli, followed by sustained machinegun fire.

Earlier in the day, residents of Misrata, east of Tripoli, said government tanks and snipers had entered the center of the city after a military base on the outskirts was hit by Western strikes.

The Libyan government in Tripoli had already announced a unilateral ceasefire last week, but Western powers then accused Gaddafi of breaking the truce -- a charge denied by the government.

The latest announcement appeared to contradict a defiant speech by Gaddafi earlier in the day in which he said he was giving out weapons to his people to help defend Libya against Western forces. He also said Libya was ready to fight a long war to defeat its enemies.

Mohamed Sharif, a tribal official, delivered a statement in the name of the government inviting people to join a symbolic procession, "using all means of transport," from Tripoli to the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi, to open reconciliation talks.

"... we could sit down as one family to discuss the affairs of our homeland and the future of Libya in a democratic and peaceful way," he told reporters.