Former U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon said he is set to meet with Moammar Gadhafi on Wednesday in an attempt to convince the embattled Libyan ruler to step down. 
"I've met him enough times to know that it will be very hard to simply bomb him into submission," wrote Weldon, who said he is in Libya at the invitation of Gadhafi. U.S. President Barack Obama's administration is aware of the trip, the former Republican representative from Pennsylvania said.
In 2004, Weldon led a congressional delegation to the Libyan capital of Tripoli and met privately with Gadhafi after the Libyan leader renounced terrorism in an effort to establish warmer ties with the West. In his New York Times piece, Weldon said he went to support Gadhafi's decision to give up Libya's nuclear weapons program, though neither he nor the White House wanted to support Gadhafi himself.
Weldon told in 2004 that he had 14 meetings with "everyone in the administration" and toured a nuclear complex.
Libya remains in a deadly stalemate as pro-Gadhafi forces battle rebel fighters demanding an end to Gadhafi's nearly 42-year-rule.
In his piece, Weldon called for an immediate United Nations-monitored cease-fire, "with the Libyan Army withdrawing from contested cities and rebel forces ending attempts to advance."
"Then we must identify and engage with those leaders who, if not perfect, are pragmatic and reform-minded and thus best positioned to lead the country."
He added that Gadhafi's son Saif, "a powerful businessman and politician, could play a constructive role as a member of the committee to devise a new government structure or Constitution."
Opposition leader: Compromise not an option with Gadhafi
Though Saif al-Islam Gadhafi was once viewed as a leading reformer in the Libyan government, the 38-year-old has become one of his father's most outspoken defenders since the start of the unrest.
Weldon wrote that the country's prime minister and the head of Libya's rebel Transitional National Council should meet with the U.N. envoy to the Libya "and work out a schedule for fair elections for a new president and legislature."
Libyan rebels disappointed by NATO's efforts
Weldon's proposal also suggests free elections within 12 months overseen by the U.N.
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