Brussels, 30/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton painted a positive picture of the ministerial meeting of the Contact Group on Libya in London on 29 March which she attended on behalf of the EU. “I am very encouraged by the progress we made today. The meeting confirmed that the international community is united in its determination to implement swiftly UN Security Council resolutions 1970 and 1973 (2001) and that Colonel Gaddafi and his regime have completely lost legitimacy”, she said. The EU is also pleased that all the members of the Contact Group are ready to help Libya in its “democratic transition”, Ashton added. “Above all, we have stressed that the future lies in the hands of the Libyan people.” Gaddafi must leave power immediately to allow “Libya to rapidly embark on an orderly transition to democracy”, she stated. Even though the EU, as a block, ultimately plays no military role in Libya, it is taking part with other international organisations (UN, African Union, Arab League) in the international Contact Group put in place to provide political oversight of the intervention, coordinate international support and assist the transformation in Libya. “From the start, the EU has responded swiftly to the crisis in Libya” through economic sanctions (which have been toughened several times since) and considerable humanitarian aid, Ashton said in London on 29 March. The EU is ready to step up its efforts, she said. The Contact Group's next meetings will be in Qatar and then in Italy in a few weeks' time.
What is to be done with Gaddafi? Though there is consensus in the international community that Gaddafi has to go immediately, views differ on the fate that should await him. The Libyan opposition wants the colonel to be tried for crimes against humanity and to be given the opportunity of going into exile. France, pointing out that the aim of the military intervention in Libya was not the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime (but simply to protect the civilian population from his abuses), takes the view that “it is for the Libyan people to decide”, as Foreign Minister Alain Juppé said once again in London on Tuesday. British Foreign Minister William Hague said that the United Kingdom believes that the Libyan leader “should face the International Criminal Court”, though it does not rule out the possibility of exile abroad as part of a peaceful solution to the conflict. That is the option that Italy would like to see. Foreign Minister Franco Frattini presented the Italian plan: Rome, which is seeking the support of Germany, wants a quick ceasefire, exile for Muammar Gaddafi, preferably in an African country or in Venezuela, and dialogue with rebels and tribal leaders in Libya. Spain, too, refuses to rule out the possibility of exile. This remains “legally” possible, Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez said in London. (H.B./transl.rt)