Tripoli, March 30: On the eleventh day of the US-led military airstrikes in Libya, participants in the London conference on Tuesday formed a united front in order to continue the Western alliance’s mission in the country and unanimously agreed that Gaddafi must leave Libya.
The leaders decided that military operations should continue until Colonel Gaddafi abides by UN demands for a ceasefire, stops attacking civilians and allows humanitarian assistance to reach Libya, a Press TV correspondent reported on Tuesday.
Prior to the meeting, speculation were rife that the leaders may approve plans to send Gaddafi to exile, however, the final statement from the talks made no mention of any such move.
“A consensus has been reached, participants at the meeting unanimously said that Gaddafi must leave the country,” Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said.
“Beyond that, it depends on the country which may offer to welcome Gaddafi. There is as yet no formal proposal; no country has formulated such a plan, even the African countries which may be ready to make one,” he added.
British Foreign Minister William Hague, who chaired the conference, said the delegates “agreed that Gaddafi and his regime have completely lost legitimacy,” as other leaders discussed to chalk out a plan for future of Libya.
“Overall, they way they are talking here is as if the future has already been decided, we don’t know what’s being said behind closed doors, perhaps Britain and France and the US have already have decided that Gaddafi must go one way or another. Although in public Prime Minister [David] Cameron is saying that Gaddafi should be prosecuted for war crimes,” Hassan Ghani, Press TV’s correspondent in London, said.
“The irony of this is that the number of nations that are being represented here and are sitting around the table deciding the Libya’s future have actually in the past been colonial power in North Africa and once again they are deciding the future of a North African state,” he added.
The meeting was held against the backdrop of public outcry over the heavy bombings in Libya by French, British and the US warplanes that have reportedly claimed civilian lives in the country.
A Group of protesters held a rally outside of the conference building in London to condemn the bombing, which is part of a no-fly zone “to protect civilians from Gaddafi attacks.”
“Humanitarian excuses are always used to defend a national interest, that’s what Britain is doing. It’s defending its immediate oil interests and the geostrategic interests of the West,” Carol Turner with the Stop the War Coalition told Media.
The Libyan regime says that at least 114 people, mostly civilians, have been killed and 445 others injured in the campaign of US-led military airstrikes in Libya since March 20.
——–Agencies