FLC
"... American diplomats--some temporarily out of pocket because Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her entourage were flying from Greece to India Monday--later fired back with a backgrounder statement denying the talks possessed any larger significance. The statement took issue with the Libyan regime's characterization of the negotiations as the beginning of a "dialogue" or a "U.S. channel." Instead, State officials made it clear that the meeting was simply a one-off affair, organized around one central message: Gadhafi has to go.
U.S. officials "met with regime representatives to deliver a clear and firm message that the only way to move forward is for Gadhafi to step down," a State Department spokesperson told journalists Monday on background.
"This was not a negotiation: It was the delivery of a message," the official continued. "The message was simple and unambiguous and the same message we deliver in public--Gadhafi must leave power so that a new political process can begin that reflects the will and aspirations of the Libyan people."
"We have no plans to meet again, because the message has been delivered," the official added.
The participating U.S. officials at the Tunisia talks were the State Department's top diplomat for the Middle East, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Jeff Feltman; former U.S. ambassador to Libya Gene Cretz; and the National Security Council's Derek Chollet, the official said..."
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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