Hague proposes international fund to help Libyan rebels

The British Foreign Secretary William Hague has proposed the establishment of an international fund to assist opposition groups in Libya seeking to topple Moammar Gaddafi.

Hague made the suggestion while serving as co-chair of an international summit in Qatar discussing the crisis in Libya.

I hope we can agree to set up a temporary financial mechanism in the region for the benefit of the interim national council controlled areas of Libya,” he said.

Libyan rebel groups are also attending the summit in the Qatari capitol of Doha,

Hague further stated: I hope we will agree to endorse the principles set out by the interim national council for a political process leading to a democratic Libya.”

He also added: We should also move forward quickly to ensure that nations wishing to support the interim national council in meeting its public sector costs can do so in a transparent manner.

Regarding what appears to be a military stalemate in Libya (despite NATOP air strikes on Gaddafi targets), Hague suggested that economic sanctions and diplomacy might be used to pressure Gaddafi to quit.

He urged his fellow delegates to uniformly agree to help remove Gaddafi

“[Gaddafi] must leave power so that the people of Libya can determine their own future,” Hague stated.

Separately, US Prime Minister David Cameron is flying to Paris to meet with French President Nicholas Sarkozy to discuss options in Libya.

Prior to his departure to Qatar, Hague told BBC that he couldn’t predict how long the crisis in Libya will last, but said he thought that NATO military strikes had been worthwhile.

Thousands of lives have been saved in places like Benghazi and possibly in Misrata, he said. We would now be looking at a pariah state completely under the control of Col Gaddafi, destabilizing an already unstable Middle East, if we had not taken the action we have taken.”

In addition, he told BBC: “Are we able to say which week these things will come to an end? Of course not, because it is a fast-moving and unpredictable situation. But I think it is clear that the Gaddafi regime has no future... the question is how and when it unravels.