Clinton Says Cease-Fire in Libya Is Essential

Clinton Says Cease-Fire in Libya Is Essential

By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer

Washington - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says that a cease-fire in Libya between government military forces and opposition forces is essential.

"We want to see the Libyan regime forces pull back from the areas that they have forcibly entered," Clinton said April 11 at a joint press conference. "We want to see a resumption of water, electricity and other services to cities that have been brutalized" by the forces of Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi.

"We want to see humanitarian assistance reach the people of Libya. These terms are non-negotiable," Clinton said.

An African Union peace mission led by South African President Jacob Zuma was in the Libyan capital of Tripoli April 10 to meet with the Qadhafi government, and was scheduled to meet with opposition leaders in Benghazi April 11. Clinton said the United States was awaiting a full briefing from the AU delegation on what was achieved and what the opposing sides would agree to support in the two-month-old civil strife.

Clinton told reporters that in addition to the other conditions - a cease-fire, a return of basic services for citizens, and humanitarian assistance - the United States believes that "there needs to be a transition that reflects the will of the Libyan people and the departure of Qadhafi from power and from Libya."

The world has watched as the Qadhafi regime has responded to the aspirations of the Libyan people with continued violence, she said. She offered thanks for the international community's response with a combination of military action approved by the U.N. Security Council and political, diplomatic and humanitarian assistance.

At the joint press briefing in Washington, Finish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb told reporters that Finland was one of the first countries to condemn Qadhafi, and also the first country to propose sanctions adopted by the Security Council. "After that, we were quite rapid in putting forward the humanitarian aid side of things," Stubb said.

ENDS

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