Obama to Libyans: You have won your revolution

US president looks forward to "inclusive, democratic Libya that stands as ultimate rebuke to Gaddafi's Libya"; warns of difficult days ahead.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
US President Barack Obama in the Rose Garden 311 (R) (photo credit: REUTERS/Jason Reed)
US President Barack Obama in the Rose Garden 311 (R)
(photo credit: REUTERS/Jason Reed)
US President Barack Obama addressed the Libyan people Thursday following the news of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's death, saying he was looking forward to an "inclusive, democratic and tolerant Libya that stands as an ultimate rebuke to Gaddafi's Libya."
"You have won your revolution," the US president said in the Rose garden outside the White House several hours after Gaddafi was killed in his hometown of Sirte, "now we will be a partner."RELATED:Muammar Gaddafi is killed trying to escape his hometown World leaders: Gaddafi death turns a new page for Libya The Libyan revolution, he said, "proves that the rule of an iron fist inevitably comes to an end."
Obama cautioned, however, that "there will be difficult days ahead."
He praised the European and US-led coalition that assisted the rebel forces that ousted Gaddafi, but said, "this day belongs to the Libyan people."
Addressing the destruction Gaddafi left behind, Obama added, "We are reminded today of all those Americans who we lost to Gaddafi's terror."
On Friday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the death of Gaddafi marked the start of a new era for Libya.
"The death of Colonel Gaddafi has brought to a close a very unfortunate chapter in Libya's history. But it also marks the start of a new era for the Libyan people, and it is our hope that what I saw in Tripoli on Tuesday first hand, the eagerness of Libyans to building a new democracy, can begin in earnest," Clinton told a news conference in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.