Hillary Clinton says Gadhafi's days numbered

Rebels wave as an Air Libya aircraft takes off from Rhebat air strip July 12, 2011. Ali Tarhouni, oil and finance minister in the council opposing Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi, opened the airfield linking the rebel capital Benghazi with a remote Western Mountain stronghold south of Tripoli, and promised a military breakthrough within days.[Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton chanted dirges again on Wednesday for Muammar Gadhafi, saying days for the Libyan leader "are numbered."

"Although neither of us can predict to you the exact day or hour that Gadhafi will leave power, we do understand and agree that his days are numbered," Clinton said at a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the State Department.

The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that new US intelligence assessments have concluded that Gadhafi's troops, already beset with morale problems and a steady stream of defections, are now hard-pressed to find fuel for military vehicles after opposition forces shut down a key pipeline.

And if current trends continue, Gadhafi's forces will run out of fuel by summer's end, and his government will face a worsening cash and credit shortage because of international sanctions, the paper quoted the intelligence reports as saying.

"We will continue to work closely with our international partners including Russia to increase the pressure on him and his regime," Clinton said.

The top US envoy will attend a Libya Contact Group meeting in Turkey on Friday, an event that brings together foreign ministers from Western powers and Arab nations as well as Libyan opposition leaders over the next steps to be taken in Libya.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said last week that his country was hopeful for "significant progress" toward a political solution to the Libyan conflict by next month.

Moscow has been critical of the NATO-led military operations in Libya. Russia and NATO met last week in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, but failed to iron out their differences over the approaches to the conflict. Lavrov said then that Russia would increase its mediation efforts in Libya.

Lavrov told reporters at the State Department that his country has "less misunderstanding" with the US than with some European countries. "We are united in that we have to start a political process as soon as possible," he added.