Obama: Libya slipping from Gaddafi
2011-08-22 06:01
Vineyard Haven - President Barack Obama said on
Sunday night following a day of dramatic developments in Libya that the
situation there has reached a "tipping point" and that control of the
capital was "slipping from the grasp of a tyrant." He called on
Muammar Gaddafi to accept reality and relinquish power.
Obama issued the statement after conducting a
conference call with members of his national security team, who had provided him
with updates throughout the day.
"The surest way for the bloodshed to end
is simple: Muammar Gaddafi and his regime need to recognise that their rule has
come to an end," Obama said in a statement issued while on vacation in
Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. "Gadhafi needs to acknowledge the
reality that he no longer controls Libya. He needs to relinquish power once and
for all."
He had told reporters earlier on Sunday that
he would not make a statement "until we have full confirmation of what has
happened."
Libyan rebels who raced into Tripoli on Sunday
met little resistance as Gaddafi's defenders melted away and his 42-year
authoritarian rule quickly crumbled. Euphoric fighters celebrated with
residents of the capital in Green Square, the symbolic heart of the fading
regime. Gadhafi's whereabouts were unknown, though state TV broadcast his
bitter pleas for Libyans to defend his regime.
Opposition fighters captured his son and
one-time heir apparent, Seif al-Islam, who along with his father faces charges
of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in the
Netherlands. Another son was in contact with rebels about surrendering, the
opposition said.
"Tonight, the momentum against the Gaddafi
regime has reached a tipping point. Tripoli is slipping from the grasp of a
tyrant," Obama said. "The Gadhafi regime is showing signs of
collapsing. The people of Libya are showing that the universal pursuit of
dignity and freedom is far stronger than the iron fist of a dictator."
The US has joined other countries in
recognizing the rebel forces, the Transitional National Council, as the
legitimate government in Libya.
Obama called on the rebels "at this
pivotal and historic time" to demonstrate the leadership needed to steer
the country through a transition by respecting the rights of the Libyan people,
avoiding civilian casualties, protecting state institutions and pursuing a
transition to democracy that is "just and inclusive" for all of the
country's people.
"A season of conflict must lead to one
of peace," the president said.
Obama said the US would remain in close
contact with the TNC and work with its allies and partners around the world to
protect the Libyan people and support a peaceful shift to democracy.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta were also kept updated throughout the day,
officials said.
Associated Press writers Mark S. Smith and
Erica Werner in Vineyard Haven, Mass., and Matthew Lee and Lolita C. Baldor in
Washington contributed to this report.
- AP