After yesterday’s violent crackdown on protesters in the country, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced: it’s time to leave Libya!
The U.S. announced plans to evacuate its citizens from Libya after Secretary Clinton declared their safety as the “highest priority.” According to the U.S. embassy in Tripoli, a government-chartered ferry was scheduled to take Americans from the Libyan capital to Malta on a first-come, first-served basis — although people with severe medical conditions would get priority.
The United Nations Security Council and European allies yesterday joined the U.S. in condemning Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s attacks on protesters that New York-based monitoring group Human Rights Watch has said killed almost 300. While deploring the bloodshed, U.S. officials said they must focus first on the safety of embassy personnel.
“Now, as always, the safety and well-being of Americans has to be our highest priority,” Clinton said at the State Department in Washington. “As we gain a greater understanding of what actually is happening, the U.S. will take appropriate steps in line with our policies, our values and our laws. But we’re going to have to work in concert with the international community.”
