Senior Libyan diplomat says quits over "bloodshed"

CAIRO, March 31 (Reuters) - A former Libyan foreign minister who Muammar Gaddafi had appointed as his U.N. ambassador, Ali Abdussalm Treki, has refused to take up any official position and condemned the "spilling of blood."

Treki made the remarks in a statement sent to Reuters by his nephew, Soufian Treki, a Libyan diplomat at the Arab League in Cairo. He said his uncle was in Cairo now.

"I have decided not to continue work or to accept any duty," the former minister said in the statement. "I pray to God to help me participate in saving this precious nation." He called for a national dialogue to discuss Libyan aspirations. (Reporting by Dina Zayed; Writing by Edmund Blair)