ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Secretary of
State Hillary Rodham Clinton bluntly
warned African leaders on Monday
that authoritarian governments
ruled by aging despots were "no
longer acceptable," saying that those
who refused democratic reforms
would find themselves "on the wrong
side of history."
She also urged the African Union to
end its lingering relations with
Libya's leader, Col. Muammar el-
Qaddafi. American officials have been
deeply frustrated by the
organization's efforts to mediate on
behalf of Colonel Qaddafi, who for
decades lavished support on African
leaders - many of them autocratic -
and led the group two years ago.
She also called for a peaceful
resolution of the fighting that has
flared in Sudan ahead of the planned
declaration of independence by
South Sudan on July 9.
The violence, in the disputed
territory of Abyei and increasingly in
other regions along what will be the
new border, has threatened to
unravel a peaceful separation that
the Obama administration worked
feverishly to ensure over the last
year. Mrs. Clinton called the recent
fight "deeply troubling."
Talks aimed at resolving the dispute
over Abyei took place in Addis Ababa
over the last two days, with Sudan's
president, Omar al-Bashir, in
attendance. According to an
American diplomat, Mr. Bashir
agreed to withdraw his forces from
the Abyei area before July 9, but the
offer was heavily conditioned and no
final agreement was announced.
Mrs. Clinton, on a five-day, three-
country visit focused on trade and
economic assistance to Africa,
became the first secretary of state to
address a session of the African
Union, the regional organization
created in 2002 that represents 53
nations on the continent, lacking
only Morocco.
"Too many people in Africa still live
under longstanding rulers, men who
care too much about the longevity of
their reign and too little about the
legacy that should be built for their
countries' future," Mrs. Clinton said
her speech echoed one in mid-January, just before the
president of Tunisia was ousted in the first salvo in what
became a wave of regional revolts. Then, she warned Arab
leaders that their governments risked "sinking into the sand" if
they did not change.
"The status quo is broken," she said Monday. "The old ways of
governing are no longer acceptable. It is time for leaders to
lead with accountability, treat their people with dignity, respect
their rights and deliver economic opportunity. And if they will
not, then it is time for them to go."
Mrs. Clinton did not specify any countries or leaders, but the
United States has long opposed some of the most repressive
governments, from Zimbabwe to Sudan. Representatives of the
African Union's members, including Libya's, attended her
speech in the conference hall of its headquarters here in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia's capital. She was greeted politely and even
warmly at moments.
One of her most biting comments about leaders' attitudes -
"Some even claim to believe in democracy defined as one
election, one time" - prompted laughter.
In the case of Libya, Mrs. Clinton acknowledged that many
members, though not all, disagreed with the military
intervention in Libya led by the United States and NATO, but she
urged all members to call for a genuine cease-fire and the
departure of Colonel Qaddafi. She urged them to suspend
operations of Libya's embassies, expel diplomats loyal to
Colonel Qaddafi, and open channels to the Libyan rebels.
"Your words and your actions could make the difference in
bringing this situation to finally close," she said.
The presence of Mr. Bashir, Sudan's president, raised the
potentially awkward possibility that Mrs. Clinton might
encounter a leader indicted by the International Criminal Court
for crimes in another part of Sudan, Darfur. Mr. Bashir,
however, left town before she arrived and did not attend the
meetings at the African Union headquarters.
Mrs. Clinton did meet with representatives of both the north
and south at her hotel in an effort to press for an agreement.
One was an adviser to President Bashir, Nafi Ali Nafi; the other
was the leader of southern Sudan, Salva Kiir.
Mrs. Clinton then had to abruptly curtail her trip. A volcano
erupting in neighboring Eritrea sent an ash cloud that
threatened to strand her in Ethiopia, so she departed late
Monday night, canceling visits to a hospital and a school. A
senior aide, Philippe Reines, said she promised to come back

They have gotten Ivory Coast at the cost of thousands dead with ongoing violence. Africans will not support them on this one; Ghadafi is more important to several African countries that he has offered financial help than America.
NATO get out of Libya and allow Libyans to decide ghadafis fate.