US says no boots on ground in post-Qaddafi Libya as UN chief urges end of fighting

The United States does not intend to send ground forces into Libya to assist in any international peacekeeping operations following the fall of Muammar Qaddafi, the Pentagon said on Monday UN chief called on Qaddafi forces to stop fighting and allow a transition to power

As rebels searched for Qaddafi, whose forces made a last-ditch stand in Tripoli on Monday, the Pentagon knocked down speculation the Libyan leader might have slipped out of the country.

“We do not have any information that he has left the country,” Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan said, without offering further details on his presumed whereabouts, according to Reuters.

President Barack Obama previously ruled out sending US ground forces into Libya, trying to limit US exposure to a third conflict as it wrestles with wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Lapan said that position still held in any post-Qaddafi era.

“If there is going to be some kind of transitional mission that involves any kind of foreign troops, there wouldn't be U.S. ground troops as part of that,” Lapan said.

US surveillance operations over Libya, as part of the NATO mission, were expected to continue in the coming days. Those include use of US Predator drone aircraft, two more of which were deployed to Libya last week.

Lapan rejected the idea that battlefield conditions inside Tripoli were becoming too complex for aerial surveillance to distinguish between rebels and pro-Qaddafi forces. If true, that could have complicated NATO air support.

“We still have a pretty good operational picture of where the forces are arrayed on the battlefield,” Lapan said.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, meanwhile, called on forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi to stop fighting and allow a transition to power in the oil-producing North African state, according to Reuters.

He added that all UN member states are obligated to comply with decisions of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which has issued arrest warrants for Qaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam and his intelligence chief.

The Libyan rebels, who say they have captured Saif al-Islam and two other sons of Qaddafi, have indicated they might want to try the trio in Libya instead of handing them over the ICC.

The UN chief said that the heads of the African Union, European Union, Arab League and other regional groups would attend a summit on Libya this week in New York, according to AFP.

“This is a hopeful moment, but there are risks ahead,” Ban said as he announced the meeting and offered UN help with Libya’s post-conflict transition.

“The international community will continue to do its part to protect civilians from harm,” Ban told reporters.

“The United Nations is now prepared to assist in all vital areas” including security, rule of law, economic recovery, writing a constitution and holding elections, Ban told reporters.

The UN secretary general said the Libya meeting would probably be on Thursday or Friday and would include the heads of the African Union, European Union, Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.