Obama 'to finish the job' in Libya

US President Barack Obama

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/181997.html

US President Barack Obama has announced at the annual G8 summit that the US and France are determined to see the military intervention in Libya through.

"We are joined in our resolve to finish the job," Obama said on Friday in the French resort of Deauville.

He made the remarks after talks with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy Deauville, where the leaders of the Group of Eight developed nations are meeting.

Meanwhile, Russia has agreed to act as a mediator and help resolve the crisis in Libya after initially declining the offer.

NATO has been bombing Libya since March. Under a UN mandate, the alliance must protect civilians caught up in the battle between the opponents of Muammar Gaddafi and his loyalists.

However, many civilians and even anti-Gaddafi forces have been killed since the Western-led war on Libya began in March.

Libyan troops have also killed thousands of civilians since the revolution against Gaddafi began in mid-February.

Critics have condemned what they call the West's hypocrisy over the offensive on Libya, along with its silence towards the brutal crackdowns on similar anti-regime movements elsewhere in the Arab world, such as in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Experts say the main motive behind the Western attack on Libya is the vast oil reserves in the North African country. This is the biggest Western military intervention in the Arab world since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.