U.S. has no plans to kill Gaddafi, Obama says

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. President Barack Obama told Congress that the United States has no plans to use its military to assassinate Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, the Politico newspaper quoted sources familiar with a March 25 White House briefing as saying.

"It's not our role to do anything at this point from a kinetic point of view," Maryland Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told Politico. Another source confirmed the account. "It's not just military efforts that can force his removal," the source said, RIA Novosti reported

The UN Security Council imposed a no-fly zone over Libya on March 17, also permitting "all necessary measures" to protect civilians from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's attacks on rebel-held towns.

The operation to enforce the no-fly zone, codenamed Odyssey Dawn, is being conducted jointly by 13 states, including the United States, Britain and France.

Western warplanes have flown more than 300 sorties over the North African country and fired at least 170 Tomahawk missiles in the UN-mandated mission.

Libyan state media outlets have reported that dozens of people have been killed by the airstrikes.