Washington: US President Barack Obama has admitted that Libya’s strongman Col Gaddafi could thwart rebels fighting to oust him but he warned that the international community was “tightening the noose” on Gaddafi.
Obama was speaking in a White House news conference on Friday.
Obama announced that he would appoint an envoy to Libyan opposition forces as part of a bid to “change the balance” of the military situation in Libya, and warned the world had an obligation to avoid a Rwanda-style massacre.
The president also defended his efforts to date to oust Gaddafi, amid criticism that he has been too slow or not offered sufficient leadership, adding he was gauging support for a no-fly zone with regional powers.
“He is more and more isolated internationally both through sanctions as well as an arms embargo,” Obama said.
The president also gave an insight into evolving US policy on Gaddafi’s crackdown on Libyan opposition forces and his capacity to hang on, edging towards more overt material and political support for opposition forces.
“I am concerned about it. Gaddafi has a stash of weapons, he not only has some troops that remain loyal to him but there are also reports that he’s also been hiring mercenaries.”
“We’re going to have to continue to apply pressure,” Obama said, adding that the world had to try to “change the balance” militarily on the ground in Libya as well as in Gaddafi’s inner circle.
To that end, the US Treasury Department hit another nine top officials and Gaddafi’s family members with sanctions, including the defense minister and the Libyan leader’s wife Safia Farkash.
Under an earlier set of measures, Washington had frozen $32 billion in Libyan assets.
The president did not say specifically whether the United States and its allies had yet considered whether to arm opposition forces as some of ideological opponents in Washington have urged.
“We have determined that it is appropriate for us to assign a representative whose specific job is to interact with the opposition and determine ways that we can further help them,” Obama said.
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