US President Barack Obama yesterday condemned the “unacceptable” bloodshed in Libya and said he would work with other countries to hold Muammar Gaddafi’s government accountable.
In his first public comments on Gaddafi’s efforts to crush a popular revolt that erupted alongside uprisings elsewhere in the region, Obama said his administration was looking at “the full range of options that we have to respond to this crisis.”
“The suffering and bloodshed is outrageous and it is unacceptable,” he said. “This violence must stop.”
While Obama did not say what actions Washington might take against the oil-producing North African country, US officials said earlier that sanctions and freezing assets, including those belonging to Gaddafi, were possible.
Still, analysts say US options to influence events in Libya are limited, unlike in Egypt and Bahrain where Washington was able to bring pressure as a long-time ally and benefactor.
Obama, the first US president to shake hands with Gaddafi, has faced criticism in some quarters for not speaking out sooner. But officials say the US response has been tempered to ensure Americans in Libya can be safely evacuated.
“We are doing everything we can to protect American citizens. It is my highest priority,” Obama said.
He spoke as a chartered ferry prepared to evacuate Americans and other foreigners from Libya to the island of Malta in the Mediterranean. High seas were delaying the ferry’s departure, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.
“Citizens are safe on board. It will leave when the weather permits,” he said in a Twitter message.
The US government estimates there are several thousand Americans living in Libya. Most hold dual citizenship, and about 600 carry US passports only.
While the United States was treading cautiously on the issue of sanctions, European Union governments edged towards measures against Libya, agreeing to explore possible travel restrictions, an arms embargo and asset freezes.
“Sanctions are almost inevitable at this point but it is going to take time, particularly at the United Nations which is not the fastest-moving organisation,” said John Norris of the Center for American Progress think tank in Washington.
US sanctions alone would not have much impact because American exports to Libya were only US$665 million (RM1,995 million) in 2010, while US aid amounted to less than US$1 million.
Obama said it was “imperative that the nations and peoples of the world speak with one voice” on the crisis, which helped push the price of US crude oil to a 28-month high of US$100 a barrel yesterday.
“This is not simply a concern of the United States. The entire world is watching and we will co-ordinate our assistance and accountability measures with the international community,” Obama said.
The United States has been estranged from Libya for most of the past 40 years, largely because of Gaddafi’s support for attacks such as the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people.
Washington began to improve ties after Gaddafi agreed in late 2003 to give up the pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and Libya accepted responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing.
Some US lawmakers pressed the White House to work with allies to enforce a “no-fly” zone over Libya as the United States did in northern Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War to protect Kurds from Saddam Hussein’s security forces.
White House spokesman Jay Carney did not rule out the idea but Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan said he was not aware of any talks within the military about a no-fly zone.
David Schenker, a former Pentagon official now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy think-tank, said the United States would likely agree to enforcing a no-fly zone only if other Nato nations took part.
“The longer that this goes on, the more people will clamour for it,” Schenker said
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