German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in an interview with ZDF television that it would be “good if he would give up as quickly as possible” to avoid further bloodshed.

Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said: “We hope this is the turning point; we hope that the last days of this unjust regime have begun.”

He told reporters that “every day earlier that Col. Qaddafi leaves the country is a good day for Libya and the Libyan people.”

Germany has not participated in NATO airstrikes in Libya but recognized the rebels’ National Transitional Council in June as Libya’s legitimate representative.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged Qaddafi to “spare his people further useless suffering” by stepping down immediately.

Sarkozy underscored France’s “full support to complete the liberation of their country from oppression and dictatorship.”

He said the outcome of the 6-month-long conflict “is no longer in doubt” and called on Qaddafi to order regime loyalists to put down their arms to prevent further bloodshed.

France was among the early supporters of the rebels’ National Transitional Council and is heavily involved in NATO’s airstrike mission there.