Africa

Africa

France, U.S. agree to continue military support to Libyan rebels

23 August 2011 20:15 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed to continue military support to Libyan rebels as long as the Gaddafi regime and his troops refuse to surrender, the Elysee Palace said Tuesday in a statement, APA reports quoting news.xinhuanet.com website.

"They agreed to continue their military effort in support of the Libyan legitimate authorities as long as (embattled Libyan leader Muammar) Gaddafi and his clan do not lay down the arms," the statement said.

"As a new phase is going to open, the two presidents expressed their desire to bring together the international community behind the Libyan people, to help initiate the political transition in a spirit of reconciliation and national unity with objective to build a new, democratic and pluralistic Libya."

The two leaders reached a consensus in a telephone talk earlier in the day, noting the positive contribution that will be brought about by an international conference Paris is going to organize over the future of Libya, according to the statement.

France proposed to hold a meeting of the contact group over Libya in Paris next week in a bid to draw a blueprint for the post-Gaddafi Libya.

Besides Libya issue, they also discussed recent economic situation and financial markets and converged to intensify coordination between the two states before the G20 summit this year.