By SIRAJ WAHAB | ARAB NEWS
Published: Jul 14, 2011 21:11 Updated: Jul 14, 2011 21:11
ISTANBUL: Senior officials from more than 40 countries, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, are on their way to the historic Turkish city of Istanbul to take part in Friday’s talks on Libya.
Besides the 40 countries, the International Contact Group also comprises United Nations, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Arab League and African Union representatives. The meeting is a follow up to earlier sessions in Doha, Rome and Abu Dhabi.
There is alarm in the Western world at the current stalemate in Libya. When a UN resolution authorized countries “to take all necessary measures” to help protect Libyan civilians from attacks by Qaddafi forces on March 19, it was believed that Qaddafi would be removed in a matter of days. Four months later and after heavy aerial bombardment Qaddafi continues to remain well entrenched in the Libyan capital Tripoli.
The opposition National Transitional Council, which is based in Benghazi, has won recognition from many states, but its fighters have been unable to dislodge Qaddafi.
Reports appearing Thursday in Turkish newspapers suggest that Qaddafi is facing dramatic shortages of fuel for his soldiers and citizens in Tripoli, and he is running out of cash to pay his forces and what is left of his government.
The reports, quoting unnamed US officials, attribute the cash crunch in part to Turkey’s decision to seize hundreds of millions of dollars in the Arab Turkish Bank.
This has led Hillary Clinton to proclaim that Qaddafi’s days are numbered.
“Neither of us can predict to you the exact day or hour that Qaddafi will leave power; we do understand and agree that his days are numbered,” Clinton said while addressing a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Wednesday in Washington. “We will continue to work closely with our international partners, including Russia, to increase the pressure on him and his regime, and we will keep looking for a way to achieve a cease-fire, end the military action and give the Libyan people a chance to plot their own way forward.”
Russia, however, declined Turkey’s invitation to attend the Istanbul meeting.