GENEVA - US Secretary of State HillaryClinton said on Monday Muammar Gaddafi was using "mercenariesand thugs" to suppress his own people and said the Libyan leadermust step down immediately.
"Gaddafi and those around him must be held accountable forthese acts, which violate international legal obligations andcommon decency," Clinton said in an address to the UN HumanRights Council in Geneva, saying nothing was off the table asthe international community considers its next steps and as long as the Gaddafi government threatens and kills its civilians."It is time for Gaddafi to go, now, without further violenceor delay," she added.RELATED:Libyan rebels fight back military, shoot down aircraftUK to UN: appoint a special investigator for IranMeanwhile, the US military was repositioning naval and air forces around Libya, a Pentagon official said on Monday, as the international demands intensify for an end to Gaddafi's decades-long rule."We have planners working and various contingency plans and I think it's safe to say as part of that we're repositioning forces to be able to provide for that flexibility once decisions are made ... to be able to provide options and flexibility," said Colonel David Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman.UK Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday also commented on events in Libya, calling on the fringes of the Gaddafi government to desert. Cameron added that he has not yet ruled out the use of "military assets," and has asked defense chiefs to work on no-fly zone.