Washington: US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton has said, in her personal opinion Libyan leader Muammar Al Gaddafi is game playing, but could be very well looking for an exit strategy, which the Obama Administration
would encourage.
"It's my personal opinion some of it is theatre, some of
it is kind of, shall we say, game playing, to try to do one
message to one group, another message to somebody else,"
Clinton told the ABC news in an interview.
"Because as you recall, after the Security Council acted,
Gaddafi said, "Well, we're going to do a ceasefire," and then
immediately urged his forces to move even more quickly towards Benghazi," she said.
"So a lot of it is just the way he behaves. It's somewhat
unpredictable. But some of it, we think, is exploring what
are my options, where could I go, what could I do. We would
encourage that," Clinton said in response to a question.
"I'm not aware that he personally has reached out, but I
do know that people allegedly on his behalf have been reaching
out. So that's why I say this is a very dynamic situation, and
I often wonder how, in the past, anybody could engage in these
kinds of actions and then have to basically answer every tweet
or every posting from anyone, because these are fast-moving,
evolving situations," she said.
"We are sending a clear message by our actions in the
international community that we would like to see Qadhafi
leave power and transition to a different future for the
Libyan people," Clinton said.
Noting that the UN Security Council resolution was very
broad but explicit about what was legally authorised by the
international community, Clinton said that US is hundred
per cent committed to enforcing it and helping others enforce
it.
"There is nothing in there about getting rid of anybody.
It is about protecting civilians, providing humanitarian
assistance, but also enabling nations to use whatever means
necessary in order to bring that about," she said, adding that
there are many aspects to what the international community is
doing to put a lot of pressure on Gaddafi and those around
him.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, March 23, 2011, 11:53