WASHINGTON — The United States began moving warships toward Libya and froze $30 billion in the country’s assets Monday as the administration declared all options on the table in its diplomatic, economic and military campaign to drive Moammar Gadhafi from power.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the administration was conferring with allies about imposing a no-fly zone over Libya. Such a move would likely be carried out only under a mandate from the United Nations or NATO, but Clinton’s blunt confirmation that it was under consideration was clearly intended to ratchet up the pressure on Gadhafi and his dwindling band of loyalists.
“Gadhafi has lost the legitimacy to govern, and it is time for him to go without further violence or delay,” Clinton told reporters after a special meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council. “No option is off the table,” she said, adding “that of course includes a no-fly zone.”
But officials in Washington and elsewhere said direct military action remained unlikely, and that the moves were designed as much as anything as a warning to Gadhafi and a show of support to the protesters seeking to overthrow his government.
Speaking in Geneva, Clinton said the United States was sending two teams of aid workers to Libyan border regions with Tunisia and Egypt, where tens of thousands of refugees are massing in a desperate flight from Libya’s strife-torn cities. The administration has set aside $10 million for emergency relief.
As part of a potential military role in the humanitarian effort, Pentagon officials said military aircraft and ships were being ordered to move into position closer to the Libyan coast. The Navy has an aircraft carrier strike group — with ample planes and helicopters — and an amphibious landing vessel, with Marines and helicopters, in the nearby Red Sea.
“As part of our contingency planning to provide the president flexibility on a full range of options regarding Libya, we are repositioning forces in the region,” said Col. David Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman.
The coordinated statements were part of a rapidly accelerating Western response to the bloody clashes between rebels and loyalists of Gadhafi.
