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South Africa's Tutu calls for international intervention in Libya
Mar 10, 2011, 12:59 GMT
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is pictured during an interview with Sir Trevor McDonald (not pictured) during \'An Audience With Desmond Tutu\' in Croydon, South London, Britain, 05 August, 2010. It was Tutu\'s last public appearance in Britain. EPA/ANDY RAIN
Johannesburg - Former South African archbishop Desmond Tutu said he hopes the international community will 'do all they can to stop the carnage' in Libya, in comments made ahead of high-level European Union meetings Thursday on the issue.
'When government is unable or unwilling, then the international community should intervene,' he said.
Tutu, an icon of his country's struggle for democracy, also said during a lecture at the University of the Western Cape on Wednesday night that the unrest in North Africa should remind governments everywhere that people are not fools.
'One day, they will call rulers to account,' the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said.
He noted that he was 'very deeply disturbed' about the violence in Libya, which has seen fierce fighting between government troops and rebels in the wake of a bloody crackdown on anti-regime protesters.
Tutu argued that the South African government should use its 'warm relationship' with Moamer Gaddafi to urge the embattled Libyan leader to 'restrain' himself.
Tutu's 'Musings of a Decrepit' lecture was scheduled to be one of his last appearances before he bows out of public life, ahead of his 80th birthday later this year.
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