US, Allies Aim Military and Financial Might Against Gadhafi

The Obama administration and international allies today stepped up pressure on Moammar Gadhafi to quit Libya, freezing billions of dollars of the strongman's assets and threatening to impose a no-fly zone to stop his government from striking rebel forces from the sky.

The U.S. Treasury Department said it has frozen at least $30 billion in Libyan government assets so far under the executive order signed Friday by President Barack Obama. David Cohen, the acting Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, called the freeze "the largest blocking under any sanctions program ever."

The European Union today imposed its own financial sanctions, as well as travel bans on Gadhafi, members of his family and close aides.

Amid reports that Gadhafi has ordered fighter jets and bombers to attack forces now supporting the rebels, Obama administration officials said the U.S. and NATO allies are discussing ways to impose a no-fly zone.

Col. Dave Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman, said American naval and air assets are being repositioned to within striking distance of Libya to ensure that "a full range of options [is] available."

Lapan declined to specify which ships were on their way, but both the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier battle group and the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge -- with elements of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard -- are in the western Indian Ocean and reportedly were shifting course.

Obama followed a weekend of telephone diplomacy with European allies by meeting United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the White House, where they discussed a campaign to build on a slate of sanctions imposed Saturday with unusual speed by the U.N. Security Council.

The Security Council referred the Libyan government to the International Criminal Court for potential war crimes prosecution, authorized member states to freeze Libyan assets, set an arms embargo against the country and took steps to stop Gadhafi from using foreign mercenaries against his own people.

"These sanctions and accountability mechanisms should make all members of the Libyan regime think about the choice they have before them: violate human rights and be held accountable or stop the violence and respect the Libyan people's call for change," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said at the White House. "There's no escaping that critical choice."

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, addressing the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, said Gadhafi and his aides must be held accountable for violating "international legal obligations and common decency," and called on him to leave.

"Through their actions, they have lost the legitimacy to govern," Clinton said. "And the people of Libya have made themselves clear: It is time for Gadhafi to go -- now, without further violence or delay."

After Obama met with U.N. chief Ban, White House spokesman Jay Carney said one option for Gadhafi is exile, adding that it could be the best way to quickly end the bloodshed in Libya. But Carney said Gadhafi "and others will be held accountable for his actions, regardless."

Gadhafi today gave interviews to U.S. and British media in which he denied the existence of protests and said his people love him.

In response, Rice called the once-and-current international pariah "delusional."

"When he can laugh in talking to American and international journalists while he is slaughtering his own people, it only underscores how unfit he is to lead and how disconnected he is from reality," Rice said. "And we're going to continue to keep the pressure on."

Meanwhile, the U.S. Agency for International Development said it has set aside an initial $10 million in emergency assistance "to support the efforts of international organizations, nongovernmental organizations and the Libyan Red Crescent Society to meet the most urgent needs."

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said its emergency teams are working with Egyptian and Tunisian authorities to help more than 110,000 people who have fled Libya, and USAID is conducting an inventory of all American food stockpiles in the region to help them and deal with potential shortages in Libya.