Gaddafi exit from Libya is a global aim, says Cameron

David Cameron has claimed that "virtually every country around the world" wants Colonel Gaddafi to step down as leader of Libya.

Dismissing suggestions that the anti-Gaddafi coalition had changed its war aims, the prime minister said that when he joined the presidents of the US and France in publishing a joint article saying that Gaddafi would have to go, the three leaders were merely expressing world opinion.

"If you stop and think about it, the idea that at the end of all this somehow you could keep in place Colonel Gaddafi, who is even as we speak right now murdering his own civilians in Misrata – the idea that he's got a part to play in the future of Libya must be wrong," Cameron said.

The publication of the joint article on Friday prompted calls for the recall of parliament, on the grounds that it implied regime change was now the main goal of the coalition. In an interview with Sky News on Sunday, Cameron rejected this analysis.

"We can only fulfil what is in the UN security council resolutions, but that doesn't stop us together as we have done, President Obama, President Sarkozy and I – but also virtually every prime minister in every country around the world – saying that Libya should be able to have a free and democratic future determined by themselves; it's hard to believe they'd choose one with Colonel Gaddafi still around," Cameron said.

Cameron said that there was "no question of an invasion or an occupation" under the terms of the UN resolution and that this was making fighting the conflict "more difficult in many ways" for the coalition. But the coalition was supplying the rebels with non-lethal material, such as body armour and communications equipment, he said.

"There's no doubt in my mind that Colonel Gaddafi is still intent on murdering people in Misrata and taking control of that large city and also pushing towards Benghazi, where I'm sure, if he ever got there, there would be a bloodbath," Cameron said.

"We should be taking all the necessary steps to stop that from happening and to save civilian life."

Source-guardian.co.uk