Gaddafi warned over violence

David Cameron warns Gaddafi over Libya violence


Prime minister echoes Obama’s threat of sanctions, saying Libyan leader faces ‘consequences’ if repression continuesDavid Cameron has joined the US president, Barack Obama, in raising the prospect of international sanctions against Colonel Gaddafi if violent repression against demonstrators in Libya continues.The prime minister said during his tour of Gulf states: "I would condemn human rights abuses and the repression by governments against their people wherever they happen, Libya included, and all our minds at the moment are focused on that country and quite rightly so."What we have been seeing on our television screen and is happening on the streets of Tripoli and elsewhere is completely unacceptable and it must stop and, as I am absolutely clear, if it does not stop there will be consequences."In the UK, the foreign secretary, William Hague, said international support for an investigation into atrocities in Libya was mounting, and warned that those responsible would be held accountable.Obama stepped up the pressure on Wednesday after saying that Gaddafi’s "outrageous and unacceptable" actions raised the possibility of international sanctions.The US president is sending the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, to Europe to discuss what actions can be taken to stop the violence, and to take part in a meeting of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.Obama broke his silence on Libya as US citizens in the country were preparing to be evacuated, saying Gaddafi’s actions against his own people "violate international norms and every standard of common decency".He said he had asked his administration for a list of options on how to respond to the crisis."This includes those actions we may take and those we will co-ordinate with our allies and partners, or those that we will carry out through multilateral institutions," he said.Cameron echoed Obama’s stance as the uprising in Libya and other Middle Eastern countries dominated questions submitted by internet users for the prime minister to answer online during his tour of Gulf states.Asked whether the international community should intervene to prevent the bloodshed in the same way it did in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Cameron said: "I completely back what Barack Obama said last night about this, and these actions, yes, they must have consequences. Consequences in the UN security council, consequences for those responsible for them and we should, as Barack Obama said, look at the full range of options in doing that.He urged Gaddafi to "give your people a chance of freedom, democracy and a better future which is what everyone in this world wants and desires."Hague told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that the "odds were stacking up" against Gaddafi.He said it was "deeply concerning" that the remnant of the Libyan government was prepared to use force and violence against its own people."We are here in quite a different situation from Egypt and Tunisia, where military forces refused to fire on their own people and the head of government fled."Hague added: "It has to be said the odds are stacking against him (Gaddafi) which, by all accounts, is now committing serious offences, that atrocities have taken place, that attempts to fire on the people of the country, so that pressure must be stepped up, as President Obama said."But the most important thing that we want them to understand, and hear on all the international airwaves, is that we will be looking for ways to hold to account the people who are responsible for these things and they should bear that in mind before they order any more of them."Certainly we will want some kind of international investigation. Now, of course, in order to bring that about we have to persuade other countries, we have to work with other countries to do that, but we are finding a lot of support from other countries. We brought about the statement of the European security council two nights ago and we have found the signatures to get the meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council. I think there is a great deal of shock around the world at the behaviour of the Libyan government so we will build on that over the next few days.

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