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Obama vows help to rebuild Libya
Source: Agencies |
September 21, 2011, Wednesday
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US President Barack Obama called yesterday for the last of Moammar Gadhafi's loyalist forces to lay down their arms as he announced the return of the United States ambassador to Tripoli and pledged to help Libya rebuild.
"Today, the Libyan people are writing a new chapter in the life of their nation," Obama said in prepared remarks for a high-level United Nations conference on Libya. "We will stand with you in your struggle to realize the peace and prosperity that freedom can bring."
Obama's message came as transitional government forces confronted stiff resistance in the last strongholds of Gadhafi loyalists and the provisional leadership faced questions about whether it can unify a country divided along tribal and local lines.
"Those still holding out must understand the old regime is over, and it is time to lay down your arms and join the new Libya," Obama said nearly a month after Gadhafi was driven from power with the help of a NATO-led bombing campaign.
Seeking to bolster Libya's new leaders, Obama said the US ambassador was now on his way back to Tripoli and "this week, the American flag that was lowered before our embassy was attacked will be raised again."
He further pledged: "So long as the Libyan people are being threatened, the NATO-led mission to protect them will continue."
"Libya is a lesson in what the international community can achieve when we stand together as one," Obama added. But he insisted that "we cannot and should not intervene every time there's an injustice in the world."
Obama, who met earlier with Mustafa Abdul Jalil, chairman of Libya's Transitional National Council, held out promise the US would build new partnerships with Libya, a top oil producer, to help unleash the country's "extraordinary potential."
He pushed for swift steps toward democratic reform after decades of authoritarian rule under Gadhafi.
Nearly a month after Gadhafi was driven from power, his loyalists in three key towns are still beating back regular NTC assaults. Gadhafi taunted NATO in a speech broadcast by a Syria-based TV station yesterday, which gave no new clues as to his whereabouts.
"Today, the Libyan people are writing a new chapter in the life of their nation," Obama said in prepared remarks for a high-level United Nations conference on Libya. "We will stand with you in your struggle to realize the peace and prosperity that freedom can bring."
Obama's message came as transitional government forces confronted stiff resistance in the last strongholds of Gadhafi loyalists and the provisional leadership faced questions about whether it can unify a country divided along tribal and local lines.
"Those still holding out must understand the old regime is over, and it is time to lay down your arms and join the new Libya," Obama said nearly a month after Gadhafi was driven from power with the help of a NATO-led bombing campaign.
Seeking to bolster Libya's new leaders, Obama said the US ambassador was now on his way back to Tripoli and "this week, the American flag that was lowered before our embassy was attacked will be raised again."
He further pledged: "So long as the Libyan people are being threatened, the NATO-led mission to protect them will continue."
"Libya is a lesson in what the international community can achieve when we stand together as one," Obama added. But he insisted that "we cannot and should not intervene every time there's an injustice in the world."
Obama, who met earlier with Mustafa Abdul Jalil, chairman of Libya's Transitional National Council, held out promise the US would build new partnerships with Libya, a top oil producer, to help unleash the country's "extraordinary potential."
He pushed for swift steps toward democratic reform after decades of authoritarian rule under Gadhafi.
Nearly a month after Gadhafi was driven from power, his loyalists in three key towns are still beating back regular NTC assaults. Gadhafi taunted NATO in a speech broadcast by a Syria-based TV station yesterday, which gave no new clues as to his whereabouts.
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