WASHINGTON - US politicians welcomed Muammar Gaddafi's death on Thursday and US President Barack Obama planned to speak about the demise of Libya's autocratic ruler who was for decades regarded as a nemesis by Washington.
The reaction reflected a long, tortured history with the Libyan strongman, viewed by most Americans as a villain for his government's links to the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am flight over Scotland and a 1986 disco bombing in Berlin that targeted US troops.
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console.log("BODY2. CatId is:"+catID);if(catID==120){console.log("BODY. YES for anyclip script");document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none";var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://player.anyclip.com/anyclip-widget/lre-widget/prod/v1/src/lre.js'; script.setAttribute('pubname','jpostcom'); script.setAttribute('widgetname','0011r00001lcD1i_12258'); document.getElementsByClassName('divAnyClip')[0].appendChild(script);}else if(catID!=69 && catID!=2){console.log("BODY. YES for vidazoo script");document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none"; var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://static.vidazoo.com/basev/vwpt.js'; script.setAttribute('data-widget-id','60fd6becf6393400049e6535'); document.getElementsByClassName('divVidazoo')[0].appendChild(script); }Even as world leaders weighed in after Libya's interim leaders announced Gaddafi's death, the White House tread more carefully. But a White House official said Obama would provide further confirmation when he steps before the cameras at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) in the Rose Garden.
The Obama administration was likely to tout the end of Gaddafi as vindication for a cautious "leading from behind" strategy that had drawn criticism at home for casting the United States in a support role in the NATO air assault in Libya.