France, Britain, US say Kadhafi cannot stay

France, Britain and the US say it is “unthinkable” for Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi to stay in power. The UN should consider a new resolution to address Kadhafi’s future, according to France’s defence minister.

Reuters/Louafi Larbi

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama wrote a joint statement in which they said it would be an “unconscionable betrayal” for the world to allow Kadhafi to remain in power.

“It is unthinkable that someone who has tried to massacre his own people can play a part in their future government,” they said.

Forcing Kadhafi to leave goes beyond the mandate established by the UN Security Council, French Defence Minister Gérard Longuet admitted.

“But I think that when three great powers say the same thing, it's important for the United Nations, and perhaps one day the Security Council will make another resolution,” he told LCI television on Friday.

The Brics countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – criticised the foreign military intervention in Libya on Thursday, with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev saying that air strikes overstepped the UN resolution. Nato warplanes bombed the outskirts of Tripoli on Thursday.

Longuet responded that “no great power” can accept a head of state firing cannon on his own population, and called for political reform to allow Libyans “to imagine for themselves a future without Kadhafi”.

Kadhafi’s daughter Aisha retorted that to call for his resignation was “a humiliation to all Libyans”.