Azerbaijan, Baku, March 29 / Trend A. Tagiyeva /
Head of International Relations Unit at Cairo's Al-Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies Gamal Abdel Gawad said that U.S. President Barack Obama is careful not to take over direct leadership in the Libyan operation, fearing liability in case of failure of the operation.
"This time, the American leadership will act differently," Gawad told Trend by telephone from Cairo.
He said that the West will instead resort to political and diplomatic pressure on a close circle of of Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi. Deprived of like-minded people, Gaddafi would be forced to leave power.
The public has been protesting in Libya since mid-February. They demand the resignation of Gaddafi, who has ruled the country for more than 40 years.
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution on March 17 calling for the introduction of a no-fly zone over Libya and approving the possibility of foreign military operations. The operations were launched on March 19.
On Monday, Obama said the transfer of authority from the United States to NATO will take place on Wednesday. The measure is focused
"Our most effective alliance, NATO, assumed authority on protecting civilians in Libya and ensuring an arms embargo and a no-fly zone. Last night, NATO agreed to take on additional responsibility to protect the civilian population of Libya," Obama said.
Gawad believes these statements by the U.S. authorities are trying to regain the trust of world public opinion which was lost as a result of a failed war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The United States operates cautiously on the issue of Libya, fearing to take responsibility in case of failure of the Libyan operation," he said.