French defense minister envisages 'countdown' on Libya
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Xinhua, July 19, 2011
A "countdown" on possible end to the Libyan crisis was engaged as the situation there is evolving faster than expected, French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet told local media on Tuesday.
"Things can go faster than we think," the minister said on local television channel France 2.
The public opinion of Libya "is now absolutely certain that (Mouammar) Gaddafi is no longer a solution for the future," Longuet stressed, citing all reliable sources.
Without giving much detail, the minister mentioned Libyan civilian's underground revolt against Gaddafi's ruling and his forces.
Libyan rebels announced Monday that they had taken the eastern oil town of Brega after the United States pledged to unlock billions of dollars to support the anti-Gaddafi fight.
French government, an initiator of the coalition intervention on Libyan territory, got the green light of parliament last week to prolong the military operation aiming to unseat Gaddafi.
The country also has an appetite for possible "political solution" to the crisis, as "direct contacts" between the Libyan government and France were going on.
