Libya air war has failed and should stop, says France

France appeared to be getting cold feet over the Libya mission today as its defence minister said that British and French air attacks on the Gaddafi regime had failed and should cease.

Gerard Longuet said peace talks should start even if Colonel Gaddafi and his family were still in power or sharing power.

David Cameron has insisted that Gaddafi must go, but Mr Longuet claimed he could remain in Libya "in another room of the palace, with another title".

His comments were seen in London as a sign that some French ministers were losing confidence in their ability to break the apparent stalemate between rebels and Libyan government forces.

Mr Longuet said: "We must now sit around a table. We will stop bombing as soon as the Libyans start talking to one another and the military on both sides go back to their bases. They can talk to each other because we've shown there is no solution through force."

British diplomats insisted that Britain still sees no future for Libya with Gaddafi in power. "Our action has saved literally thousands of lives," said an official, who said Gaddafi's secret police would have jailed or murdered thousands if his forces had been allowed to crush rebellions in the key cities of eastern Libya such as Benghazi and Misrata.

French newspaper Le Figaro, which has strong ties to President Nicolas Sarkozy's government, has called for a political settlement.

France today denied being in direct talks with Gaddafi's government, but said it had told Tripoli the Libyan leader must relinquish power. "France wants a political solution, like we have always said," said foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero. "There are no direct negotiations between France and the Gaddafi regime, but we pass messages through the rebel council (TNC) and our allies."