US wants ceasefire in Libya

The US Secretary of State, Ms Hillary Clinton, has said that the United States wants a ceasefire in Libya with the forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi pulling back from the areas where they forcibly entered.

“We have made it very clear that we want to see a ceasefire. We want to see the Libyan regime forces pull back from the areas that they have forcibly entered,” Ms Clinton told reporters.

“We want to see resumption of water, electricity and other services to cities that have been brutalised by the Gaddafi forces. We want to see humanitarian assistance reach the people of Libya. These terms are non-negotiable,” she said.

“There needs to be a transition that reflects the will of the Libyan people and the departure of Gaddafi from power and from Libya,” she said.

“So we have been consistent along with many of our international partners in making those points to be as clear as possible in what we expected,” Ms Clinton said at a joint news conference with the visiting Finnish foreign minister, Mr Cai-Goran Alexander Stubb.

She said US will wait to get the full briefing as to what the African Union delegation determined during their recent trip to Tripoli to hold mediation talks with the Gaddafi regime.

“What we’ve seen with Gaddafi is a violent response to the aspirations of his own people, the use of his military assets against his own people,” she said.

“So the combination of military action that was authorised by the Security Council, combined with political, diplomatic, and humanitarian assistance is an international commitment, and I am very grateful for the support that we have seen come forth,” she said.

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