By IRNA,
London : The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, on Tuesday threatened the Libya regime with continuing military action until it fully complies with the UN resolutions for a creasefire and to pull its forces out of the occupied cities.
Speaking at the conclusion of an international conference on Libya in London, Clinton provoked further controversy by revealing that Washington believed it was legal to arm rebel groups despite the arms embargo.
‘It is our interpretation that [UN Security Council resolution] 1973 amended or overrode the absolute prohibition on arms to anyone in Libya, so that there could be a legitimate transfer of arms if a country should choose to do that,’ she said, adding that the US had yet to make a decision.
At his press conference, Britain’s Foreign Secretary, William Hague, sitting next to Qatari Prime Minister, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the highest-ranked Arab official attending the conference, said that arming the rebels was not one of the subjects of discussion and “not part of any agreement today’.
Hague announced agreement to establish a Libya Contact Group to provide leadership and overall political direction to the international effort in close coordination with the UN, the AU, Arab League, OIC, and the EU to support Libya and said that the first meeting would be convened by Qatar as soon as possible.
Participants, he said, have “reaffirmed their support through military, logistical, financial or humanitarian contributions and pledges in support of the people of Libya.”
“We agreed that it is not for any of the participants here today to choose the government of Libya: only the Libyan people can do that,” he said, after earlier denying that the military action, led by Britain, France and the US, was aimed at regime change.
Delegates from more than 40 countries and international organisations attended the one-day conference in London aimed to set in trail a political process for a transition of power in Libya, but participants included less than half of the UN Security Council members and without any Libyan representatives.
Outside the conference, the Benghazi-based interim transitional national council (ITNC) held meetings with Clinton, Hague and Prime Minister, David Cameron, and issued a vision for a democratic Libya, publicised by British Foreign Office.
But Hague insisted that the UK policy was committed to strengthening ties with a “wide range of members of the Libyan opposition, who are working to create a Libya, where the legitimate aspirations of its people can be met” and not just the ITNC.