Brussels, 26/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - British Foreign Minister William Hague has indicated that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi could be allowed to stay in Libya as part of a political solution to the conflict, but that he must leave office. “Whatever happens, Gaddafi must leave power”, Hague told reporters on 25 July at a joint press conference in London with his French counterpart Alain Juppé. “Obviously his leaving Libya itself would be the best way of showing the Libyan people that they no longer have to live in fear of Gaddafi”, Hague said. “But, as I have said all along, this is ultimately a question for Libyans to determine”. Previously, Britain had said that Gaddafi's “departure” was a must but, were he to leave Libya, he could be arrested on charges of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. That warrant, issued against Gaddafi, his son and the intelligence chief, has complicated the search for a political solution.
Hague and Juppé expressed their resolve to see through the military mission, for which NATO took over the lead in late March based on UN resolutions to protect protesting civilians from Gaddafi's forces. “We think that we must continue to exert strong pressure on the Libyan regime with the same methods”, Juppé said. But with a more limited US participation, and Germany opposed, Britain and France have struggled to keep up the tempo of operations, especially as ammunition stocks have diminished. These factors, with NATO divided over the operation, have made the search for a quick, political solution even more important, and the rebel Transitional National Council are the West's preferred interlocutors. (LoC)