U.S. says will keep squeezing Gaddafi until he quits

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U.S. says will keep squeezing Gaddafi until he quits

David Morgan and Missy Ryan
Reuters US Online Report Politics News

Mar 01, 2011 12:12 EST


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will keep squeezing Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi until he quits, a top U.S. official said on Tuesday after Washington imposed sanctions and began moving warships in a show of force.

The USS Barry, a destroyer, moved through the Suez Canal on Monday and is now in the southwestern Mediterranean. Two amphibious assault ships, the USS Kearsarge, which can carry 2,000 Marines, and the USS Ponce, are in the Red Sea and now heading to the canal.

"We are going to keep the pressure on Gaddafi until he steps down and allows the people of Libya to express themselves freely and determine their own future," Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told ABC's "Good Morning America" program.

At the same time, she said, the United States will work to stabilize oil prices, which soared to a 2 1/2-year high last week over the turmoil in the oil-producing North African country and elsewhere in the region.

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