Mounting pressure: France urges Qaddafi to stand down

PARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday urged Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi to give up “immediately what power he has left” as the outcome of a rebel victory is “no longer in doubt.”

In a statement issued by his office, Sarkozy said Qaddafi after 42 years in power should “avoid having his people endure more suffering unnecessarily” as rebel forces advance on the capital Tripoli.

The French president also called on Qaddafi “to immediately order those of his forces that are still loyal to a ceasefire, to put down their arms, to return to their barracks and make themselves available to the legitimate Libyan authorities.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 22^nd,  2011.