Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi were massed
near the Tunisian border, residents said, and the United
States said it was moving warships and air forces closer
to Libya.
In the hardest-hitting U.S. denunciation yet of Libya’s
leader, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice
said Gaddafi was “disconnected from reality,”
was “slaughtering his own people” and was
unfit to lead.
She said Washington was in talks with its NATO partners
and other allies about military options. The United States
also said about $30 billion in assets in the United States
had been blocked from access by Gaddafi and his family.
Prime Minister David Cameron said his government would
work to prepare for a “no-fly” zone in Libya
to protect the people from attacks by Gaddafi’s
forces.
The U.N. Security Council on Saturday imposed sanctions
on Gaddafi and other Libyan officials, imposed an arms
embargo and froze Libyan assets. European Union governments
approved their sanctions against Gaddafi in Brussels on
Monday.
The United States, whose Sixth Fleet operates out of
Italy, said it was moving U.S. naval and air forces closer
to Libya and working on various contingency plans.
