The United States will keep squeezing Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi until he quits, a top US official said on Tuesday after Washington imposed sanctions and began moving warships in a show of force. The USS Barry, a destroyer, moved through the Suez Canal on Monday and is now in the south-western Mediterranean. Two amphibious assault ships, the USS Kearsarge, which can carry 2,000 Marines, and the USS Ponce, are in the Red Sea and now heading to the canal.
"We are going to keep the pressure on Gaddafi until he steps down and allows the people of Libya to express themselves freely and determine their own future," Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the United Nations, told ABC's "Good Morning America" program.
At the same time, she said, the United States will work to stabilise oil prices, which soared to a 2 1/2-year high last week over the turmoil in the oil-producing North African country and elsewhere in the region. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned of civil war if Gaddafi, whose forces are fighting rebels who have seized large parts of Libya, refused to relinquish power.
"In the years ahead, Libya could become a peaceful democracy or it could face protracted civil war," she told lawmakers in Washington. Clinton said the United States and its Nato allies were actively considering imposing a "no-fly" zone over Libya. That would prevent Gaddafi from using his air force against the rebels, although analysts say it is not clear how effective it would be given the Libyan leader has been relying mainly on ground forces to attack opponents.
FEARS OVER OIL PRICES A US military official said imposing the no-fly zone would be challenging, citing Libya's anti-aircraft defences. "You would have to remove air defence capability in order to establish a no-fly zone, so no illusions here," General James Mattis, commander of US Central Command, told a Senate hearing. Libya's Air Defence Command is estimated to have at least 216 surface-to-air missiles and 144 towed and 72 self-propelled missiles. But many analysts say much of Libya's military equipment is poorly maintained or unusable, raising questions about what threat the anti-aircraft missiles would pose.
The United States has stepped up pressure on Gaddafi in the past few days, moving warships and aircraft closer to Libya and freezing $30 billion of Libyan assets. As of Tuesday, there were three US ships in the Mediterranean - two destroyers and the USS Mount Whitney, the command ship of the US Sixth Fleet headquartered in Gaeta, Italy.
The military preparations and tougher US rhetoric follow criticism of President Barack Obama's administration by Republican lawmakers, conservative commentators and others for an initially cautious response. The violence in Libya and concerns about potential supply disruptions amid protests in other parts of the Arab world have fuelled higher oil prices and market worries that high energy costs could undermine the global economy.
Rice said the United States was talking to "all sorts of partners that have excess capacity." "This is a situation that does have potential implications for oil supply, oil prices," she said. "We obviously would like to see production at a level that keeps prices steady and we're obviously working with our partners to ensure that's the case."
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