US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her European, Canadian and Turkish counterparts meet in Berlin on Thursday and Friday, with NATO now engaged in two far away conflicts in Libya and Afghanistan.

The chief diplomats will also discuss Afghanistan, where Afghan forces are expected to start taking over security responsibility from 140,000 foreign troops this summer with the aim of taking full control by 2014.

The meeting follows intensifying military and diplomatic efforts in Libya since the weekend, as NATO warplanes destroyed dozens of Kadhafi's tanks while African Union leaders tried to broker a truce.

After meeting Kadhafi, the AU heads of state said the Libyan leader had accepted a peace deal but the rebels rejected the ceasefire plan on Monday, saying the only acceptable solution was the veteran strongman's ouster.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has acknowledged that military muscle alone would not be enough to end the conflict, and that a political solution was needed.

Warning that any ceasefire would have to be "credible and verifiable," Rasmussen said alliance warplanes would keep pounding Kadhafi forces as long as they threaten the population.

Rasmussen will take part in the meeting of the Libya "contact group" in Qatar on Wednesday, a forum set up to give political leadership to the UN-mandated air strikes.

He said he expected the group would provide an international framework for a "lasting settlement" in Libya.

Clinton, whose country withdrew its combat jets and is now providing logistical support to NATO, renewed calls for Kadhafi to quit power and leave Libya but stopped short of making it a non-negotiable demand.

"We believe, too, that there needs to be a transition that reflects the will of the Libyan people and the departure of Kadhafi from power and from Libya," she said Monday.

The endgame in Libya remains elusive, as rebels and regime forces fight back-and-forth on desert roads, with Kadhafi entrenched in his Tripoli stronghold and the opposition in their eastern bastion of Benghazi.

US General Carter Ham, who led the first stage of the coalition air campaign, conceded last week that the conflict appeared to be turning into a stalemate and said the rebels were unlikely to fight their way to Tripoli.

A Western coalition led by the United States, France and Britain launched air strikes against Kadhafi on March 19 after the regime violently put down peaceful protests.

NATO took over the mission on March 31 after overcoming internal divisions, as France was reluctant to hand the reins to the 28-nation military organisation, arguing it had a bad reputation in the Arab world.

The host of this week's meeting, Germany, is not taking part in the air strikes after refusing to back the UN Security Council resolution authorising the use of force.

Berlin has since offered to contribute troops to any humanitarian mission to bring aid to Libya's population.

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