Istanbul meeting to hear about 'roadmap' of immediate ceasefire and talks, with US warning Gaddafi's days are numbered

Turkey is proposing a "roadmap" for the Libyan crisis of an immediate ceasefire and a negotiated political solution, as international pressure mounts on Muammar Gaddafi to step down.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, warned Gaddafi's days were numbered, while diplomats revealed that Libyan state TV has been virtually forced off air because foreign satellite broadcasters have stopped providing their services to comply with UN sanctions.

Ahmed Davutoglu, Turkey's foreign minister, will table the proposal on Friday at a meeting in Istanbul of the Libya contact group. "The main aim is to find a political solution to accelerate efforts to end the bloodshed," said a spokesman.

Clinton will be joined by William Hague, Britain's foreign secretary, and colleagues from other Nato member states who are anxious that the military campaign has not yet succeeded and are keen to explore a political solution.

Participants from 40 countries, including several Arab states, will be told that Libya's armed forces are being worn down, that Gaddafi has suffered significant defections and is running short of cash, and that UN sanctions are choking fuel supplies, generating greater domestic opposition.

In recent days Libya has applied to the UN sanctions committee in New York to release frozen assets, apparently because of a Turkish decision to cut access to hundreds of millions of dollars in Libyan funds held in a Turkish-Libyan bank.

Turkey's two-stage plan calls for an immediate ceasefire, UN monitoring, and a withdrawal of regime forces from besieged cities as well as "fast and unimpeded passage of humanitarian aid".

Davutoglu was said to want to find a solution to end the conflict before Ramadan starts on 1 August. Nato has made clear it will not suspend military operations because of the Muslim holy month. The Turkish document insists on Gaddafi's departure but does not spell out how that should happen or whether he would have to be accompanied by his sons, as the Benghazi rebels insist.

The Istanbul meeting follows statements, especially from France, about contacts with Libyans signalling a readiness to negotiate, or even claiming that Gaddafi is ready to surrender power.

The rebel Transitional National Council is adamant Gaddafi and his sons must leave before talks on a transition can start. Nato governments have indicated privately that it would be satisfactory if he were to flee into exile (Belarus, Zimbabwe or Sudan have been mentioned) to a state which is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court, which is seeking his arrest for alleged crimes against humanity.

The Istanbul meeting is expected announce new donations for the TNC after a session in the United Arab Emirates last month pledged more than $1.3bn.

Britain, France and Italy have all said they believe there is a broadening international consensus about demanding Gaddafi's departure, after initiatives by the African Union and South Africa that would have left him in place faded away.