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Clinton warns against Libya no-fly zone

11 March 2011 05:02 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned against Washington’s unilateral action in Libya, saying any such action could have unforeseeable consequences, APA reports quoting Press TV.

"Absent international authorization, the United States acting alone would be stepping into a situation whose consequences are unforeseeable.â€ Clinton said during a congressional panel on Thursday, as she expressed little hope that the move to create a no-fly zone over Libya could yield any significant result, Reuters reported.

She also made a reference to previous no-fly zones set up over Iraq and Serbia that had had little effect to stop mass killings in those countries.

"I want to remind people that we had a no-fly zone over Iraq. It did not prevent Saddam Hussein from slaughtering people on the ground and it did not get him out of office," she stated.

"We had a no-fly zone and then we had 78 days of bombing in Serbia. It did not get [former Yugoslav President Slobodan] Milosevic out of office. It did not get him out of Kosovo until we put troops on the ground with our allies," Clinton added.

"I can assure you that the president is not going to make any decision without a great deal of careful thought and deliberation,â€ the US secretary of state noted.

Elsewhere in her remarks, Clinton stated that she plans to meet with representatives of the Libyan anti-government forces when she travels next week to France, Tunisia and Egypt

On Thursday, Libyan regime forces showered rockets and tank shells on the strategic oil port of Ras Lanuf, home to the building of the Libyan Emirates Oil Refinery Company.

Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, also said on the same day that regime forces are bracing for a full-scale military action against the opposition regardless of any possible intervenes by the West.

Reports by human rights groups say that over 6,000 people have been killed since the onset of revolution in Libya on February 15.