Washington: In a rare public rebuke of two of Washington’s closest allies, President Barack Obama has hit out at British Prime Minister David Cameron and former French leader Nicolas Sarkozy over their roles in Libya after the fall of the Kadhafi regime.
Cameron became “distracted” and Sarkozy wanted to promote his country during the 2011 NATO-led military intervention in Libya, Obama said in an interview with The Atlantic magazine published on Friday.
British daily The Independent on Friday slammed Obama’s comments as “an unprecedented attack on a British leader by a serving US president,” while The Times called the criticism “extraordinary.”
In the extensive interview, Obama discussed the conditions surrounding the British and French-led bombing campaign that led to the fall of Moamer Kadhafi’s regime.
Obama said when he considered what went wrong in Libya, “there’s room for criticism because I had more faith in the Europeans, given Libya’s proximity, being invested in the follow-up.”
Cameron stopped paying attention soon after the military operation, he said, becoming “distracted by a range of other things.”
British Press hits out at Obama
The British press on Friday accused President Barack Obama of launching an unprecedented verbal attack on British Prime Minister David Cameron in a magazine interview.
In a lengthy interview with The Atlantic, Obama faults Cameron and other European allies for shortcomings in dealing with Libya after the 2011 ouster of longtime dictator Col. Moammar Gadhafi. The Times newspaper said Obama’s criticism was “extraordinary” and said Obama was blaming Cameron for the “Libya mess.”
