MOSCOW, August 22 (Itar-Tass) — It would be highly desirable for Muamar Gaddafi to take a voluntary decision on resigning from power, as procrastinations will only mean more victims among the Libyans, MP Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the State Duma foreign policy committee told Itar-Tass.
“I think the situation as such has passed the point of non-return and it doesn’t look like the incumbent authorities – the Gaddafi regime – will be able to regain control of the country, unless you ponder a scenario involving the weapons of mass destruction, of c course,” Kosachev said.
“Gaddafi will most likely recognize the changes shortly enough and will decide to resign of his own free will because procrastinations will only mean more human victims,” he said.
Reports from Tripoli speak of more than 376 people, who have died on both sides in combat actions since Sunday afternoon. More than a thousand people have been wounded.
Kosachev admitted along with it that “the very fact of departure from power of Jamahiriya’s leader won’t mean the winding up of harsh trials for Libya, alas.”
According to him, the problem is that the country itself and its political opposition in particular “are very complex structures in the religious and ethnic sense.”
“I think the change of power there will be quite problematic and will trigger new upheavals and internal strives in the short term,” Kosachev said adding that struggles between Gaddafi’s political opponents may break out soon.
As he mentioned NATO’s actions on the Libyan territory, he dismissed them as illegitimate.
“I have the apprehensions that NATO’s intrusion into Libya may create problems for that country’s new authorities in the final count, as the proponents of the incumbent government will keep raising questions about the new government’s legitimacy,” Kosachev said.
When Itar-Tass asked him about Russia’s action in the situation as it is, he said: “We’ve been acting in strict compliance with international law and the UN Security Council’s resolution in the course of the past several days and months.”
He indicated that Russia’s reservations about recognizing the National Front for the Salvation of Libya should in no way be interpreted as an attempt to lend a helping hand to Gaddafi or the people around him.
“Our criticism of the regime has always been open and frank,” Kosachev said.
“The situation keeps changing, though, and our position will be changing correspondingly,” he said. “Still I don’t see any need in taking whatever emergency decisions in the coming minutes or even hours,” he said.
“Russia’s position should consist in agreeing with the choice made by the Libyan people itself,” Kosachev said.