If NATO decides to use attack helicopters, it would mark a shift in the coalition's strategy which has so far relied on fighter planes.David Cameron, the British prime minister, who joins Western leaders at the power balanceGroup of Eight summit in the French seaside resort of Deauville, avoided discussing the matter which has caused tension between Britain and France. France has already said it would deploy attack helicopters.Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, the most vocal Western leader on Libya, is hosting the G8 summit and is expected to use it to press other powers to ramp up pressure on Gaddafi.Sarkozy told reporters on Thursday that Gaddafi still had the option of remaining in his country but he should step down and call off his forces."We are not saying that Gaddafi needs to be exiled, that's not our problem," he said in Deauville."When we say he must leave, he must leave power and the quicker he does it, the greater his choice."Sarkozy added that Gaddafi must send his troops back to their shop online 2011barracks in exchange for any ceasefire agreement, and that a rebellion against his government was making "real progress".The latest attacks come only hours after Libya's government proposed a ceasefire to end more than three months of fighting and the start of unconditional talks with the opposition.Spain said it was one of several foreign states contacted by Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi, the Libyan prime minister, with an offer of an immediate ceasefire based on an existing African Union roadmap to resolve the conflict, which, crucially, does not mention Gaddafi's future.The rebels insist they want any government initiative to include the Libyan leader's departure as a first step.NATO has launched a fourth night of airstrikes on Tripoli, leaving smoke rising from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's compound where five loud blasts were heard in the vicinity.Several large explosions rocked the capital late on Thursday night and a column of smoke was seen rising from Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziyah base."We welcome any initiative which starts with the departure of Gaddafi, his sons and his regime from Libya," Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the rebel Transitional National Council, told Al Jazeera.But White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes, speaking in Deauville, said the United States did not see the new Libyan ceasefire offer as credible.Libya was not complying with UN power balancedemands and its forces were still attacking population centres, so the United States would continue with the military campaign, he told reporters.UK to deploy helicoptersBritain’s government has now also given clearance for the use of its attack Apache helicopters in ousting Gaddafi.
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