Noting that the United States and its NATO allies have been successful in its mission in Libya, the United States President Barack Obama on Wednesday said that the Muammar-al Gaddafi needs to step down.
"I would accept him stepping down so that he is not directing armed forces against the Libyan people. He needs to step down. He needs to go," Obama said.
Speaking at a White House news conference, his first solo in about three months, he said, "When it comes to our definitions of success, the UN mandate has said that we are there to make sure that you do not see a massacre directed against Libyan civilians by the Libyan regime. The Libyan regime's capacity has been greatly reduced as a consequence of our operation."
Obama said: "That's already been successful. What we've seen, both in the east and in the west, is that opposition forces have been able to mobilise themselves and start getting organised, and people are starting to see the possibility of a more peaceful future on the horizon."
Adding that the Libyan people are going to be in danger of counteroffensives as long as Gaddafi is heading the government, he said, "So there is no doubt that Gaddafi stepping down from power is, from the international community's perspective, going to be the primary way that we can assure that the overall mission of Libya's people being protected is accomplished."
Referring to the recent decision of the International Criminal Court in which it identified Gaddafi as having violated international law, having committed war crimes, Obama said, "What we've seen are reports of troops engaging in horrible acts, including potentially using rape as a weapon of war."
"And so when you have somebody like that in charge of large numbers of troops, I think it'd be hard for us to feel confident that the Libyan people are going to be protected unless he steps down."
Obama said: "Now, what that means, whether there's the possibility of Libyans arriving at some sort of political settlement that is something that ultimately, the Libyan people are going to have to make a decision about because the international community is there in service of that broader goal of a peaceful Libya."
