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>> and now, "bbc world news." >> president obama says the u.s. had a moral obligation to intervene in libya. they will now seek control of major operations to nato. >> i said america's role would be limited and we would not put ground troops into libya. we would focus our unique capabilities on the front end of the operation and transfer responsibility to our allies and partners. tonight, we are fulfilling that pledge. >> allied strikes on libya continue. the rebels he -- meet heavy resistance but pledged to continue their advance westward. >> i will hold gaddafi and kill him. >> fist fighting in the western city upper -- of misrata.

we are broadcasting to our viewers in p.b.s. in america, and around the world. japan's prime minister declares a state of maximum alert over the crisis at the fukushima nuclear plant. president obama has made his first formal speech on the military campaign in libya. the address in washington came amid some criticism in the united states that the president has yet to explain what the goals of military action are and how long the military action will last. he responded by saying that a failure to act would have carried a far greater price for

both american and libya. but he made clear military action will not go beyond the u.n. mandate and regime change must not be pursued by force. >> of course, there is no better off with a duffy of of power. -- with the duffy out of power. i embrace that goal and will actively pursue its turn non- military means. broadening our military mission to include regime change would be a mistake. the task i assigned our forces, to protect the libyan people from the immediate danger and to establish a no-fly zone carries international support. it is what the libyan opposition asked us to do. we tried to overthrow gadhafi by force -- if we did this, our coalition would splinter.

we would likely have to put u.s. troops on the ground to accomplish that mission, or risk killing many civilians from the air. the dangers faced by our men and women in uniform would be far greater. so with the costs and our share of the responsibility for what comes next. to be blunt, we went down that road in a rock. thanks to the extraordinary sacrifices of our troops and the determination of our diplomats, we are hopeful about iraq's future. the regime change their took eight years, thousands of american and iraqi lives, and nearly a trillion dollars. that is not something we can afford to repeat in libya. the bulk of our military effort ratchets down. what we can do and will do is support the aspirations of the libyan people.

we have intervened to stop the massacre, and we will work with our allies and partners to maintain the safety of civilians. we will deny the regime arms, cut off its supplies of cash, assist the opposition, and work with other nations to hasten the day when gaddafi leaves power. in may not happen overnight. a badly weakened khaddafi tries desperately to hang onto power. this should be clear to those around gaddafi and to everybody. history is not on gaddafi's side. with the time and space we have provided for the libyan people, they will be able to determine their own destiny. that is how it should be. >> president obama speaking just an hour and a half ago in washington. steve kingston has been watching them with us and discussed the

president's justification for the involvement of the united states in libya. >> i think it really comes down to one key point, the international community feeling that if they had not acted there would have been a massacre in benghazi. the president put that in pretty stark terms. he said it if we had not acted, they could have suffered a massacre that would have reverted erected across the region and stand the conscience of the world. he kept coming back to that as the reason why the united states got involved in this. he conceded that america's national security was not necessarily threaten right now by colonel gaddafi. essentially, he was saying that we did the right thing. we took the moral course. we have a responsibility as leaders to our fellow human beings. to brushed that aside would be a betrayal of who we are.

>> he also said it was not in national interests to let that happen. he said, "i refuse to let that happen." he went on to talk about the operation with the international committee, saying america was speaking to its neighbors and was very much part of the coalition, not acting on its own. >> that is right. he was first of all saying that we did not go alone. this was not america imposing its will on the middle east and north africa, as some people accused it of in the past. this was a coalition of allies. he was also telling an american audience that the united states is going to pull back. it is not going to do the heavy lifting. the united states will be in a surveillance and support role. wednesday, nato will assume full command and control of the operation. >> many americans have been

drawing comparisons with iraq. president obama was very clear in sending a message about that. >> he acknowledged the one obvious difficulty the international coalition faces, the fact that gaddafi is still there, making a martyr of himself and perhaps even reveling in what is happening. obama confronted this question here. if you are going to go in, if you are going to conduct air strikes, why do you not make regime change the objective? barack obama simply said if we did that the coalition would splinter. he would not get support at the united nations. you would have to put in american ground troops. lives would be lost. we all remember iraq. it took eight years to carry out regime change there, with a huge cost to american and iraqi lives. it was notable i think that a couple of times in that speech,

again addressing the prime-time audience -- he mentioned the cost of this, an estimated half a billion dollars in the first week of this campaign. barack obama making it clear to his domestic audience that he does not want this conflict to escalate. >> in libya itself, fighting is continuing. coalition forces have been advancing westward toward good of the's home town. so far, rebels have failed to capture it. they are now in control of much of the area. we have been trying to track their progress. >> taking the fight to colonel gaddafi's birthplace. rubbles pounding targets near the town of serte. a victory here would have a huge symbolic melia.

if the libyan leader cannot defend his home town, how long can he defend his regime? rebels said these were some of his supporters, mercenaries they claimed were sent to kill what had been ceded by poorly-armed volunteers. we found rebel fighters racing to the front lines. there was a clear message for the libyan leader. a few weeks ago, a gesture like this would have gotten him killed. along the way, we met this band of brothers, and extended family who said they were ready to fight and die together so the children could be free. >> we will hurt the duffy -- gaddafi, and kill him, inshala.

>> many loyalists have opted to flee rather than fight. coalition air strikes have been decisive. the rebels insist they are going to take this road all the way to tripoli. the closer they get to the capital, the more resistance they can expect to face. >> some are already doing a victory dance. these untrained fighters have been long way to go before tripoli will be in their sight. within hours, they were in retreat. civilians and rebels pulling back amid confused reports that gaddafi loyalists were attacking from the beaches. bbc news, on the road to serte. >> i am joined by a former diplomat in the gaddafi government until 1981, when the secretary general of the national front for the

liberation of libya. as he see it now, do you believe the military offensive by the coalition forces is working? >> i think so far, it has prevented the duffy -- gaddafi from using his air force to raid civilians. it prevented him with the ability to get mercenaries. it prevented a sure massacre in benghazi. gaddafi was sending a full brigade. the coalition intervened. he was stopped. i think that is working and i think it should intensify. it should continue. it should not stop at all. i think any stoppage or even not

intensifying the coalition forces would be a disaster for the libyans, and also for the international community. i think we are looking forward for continuation of this work from the coalition forces, together with the fight on the ground by the libyan people. >> you are a former diplomat for the good of the government until 1981. since then, you have been campaigning for a change of regime. how we think things stand in terms of trying to topple gaddafi? >> it is very important to notice that gaddafi is the one

who chose to push the country into this fight. the libyan people started demonstrating peacefully, trying to tell the world to tell gaddafi that they no longer could state under his rule. they wanted to be free and they wanted to get their aspirations. he pushed this fight on them so they have to fight. they have to try to get rid of him by all means they have in their hands. i think it is legitimate means to try to take the destiny of the country in the hands of its people and to move forward. i am not saying that we are looking for any foreign intervention to topple duffy -- coupled duffy -- to topple gadaffi. but the people's aspirations

should be adhered to. there should be the respect and support of the libyan legitimate demands. gaddafi should go and libya should be allowed to choose their government, to choose their destiny with their own people. >> we have to leave it there, but thank you for your time. we will have more on libya in the next few minutes. we will be speaking to another voice from washington in just under five minutes time. more on the libyan uprising, including allied account of the situation in the city of misrata. hear, the government has announced a small increase in the amount of money to be spent -- to be spent to replace the educational maintenance allowance in england.

it is a humiliating u-turn. here is our political correspondent. >> there was an outcry when the coalition government announced it was to abolish the educational maintenance allowance. ministers claimed the grant was poorly targeted. it made it staying on in full- time education affordable. >> it is very useful. i buy equipment and can feed myself. i can always fall back on my ema. >> that is being replaced by a burst refund from september. the ema went directly to 650,000 students from poorer households, with an allowance of up to 30 pounds a week. under the new scheme, 12,000 students will receive more than 30 pounds a week, with a

discretionary fund for others. >> we need to assure that the cost of travel and equipment for poor students is properly met so no one is barred from participating. >> labor has poured scorn on the package. >> he has taken a successful policy which improve participation, attendance, and achievement in post secondary education, and turned it into a total shambles. >> earlier this year, the education secretary was forced by the courts to think of how he scrapped part of the school building program. his pledge for more money poorer students has been welcomed by his coalition partners. opponents state -- say it still falls short of what is needed. >> the headline this hour. in the last few hours, president obama has said the u.s. had a

moral obligation to intervene in libya. it will cede control of military operations to nato. as rebel forces to advanced westward, gaddafi troops continued attacks on insurgents in the city of misrata. dtw a sides have been pounding one another for more than a month. even without allied air strikes, the toll would be terrible. john simpson escorted by libyan officials has been to see what has been happening near misrata. >> this is one of the key battlefields in this war. rebels captured in 39 days ago and have been pounded by pro- khaddafi forces ever since. now the government says a

ceasefire is in operation. we had pictures from misrata last week, showing the extent of the damage. this is the main hospital. we were not taken to the center, where the fighting has been. instead, we were driven around the edge come up with a heavy cloud of black smoke hanging over the -- the edge, with a heavy cloud of black smoke hanging over the skyline. by chance or maybe not, a generator caught fire exactly as we were passing. finally, we arrived at a point about 3 miles from the center of the town. here, and expectant, noisy crowd engulfed us. >> it is hard to avoid the feeling that this is all staged for our benefit. and some of the violence here, some of the damage.

>> overlooking it all was a fall outside broadcast unit from libyan television, putting up the pictures live by satellite dish. so our visit was well organized. but what was entirely genuine was the scale of the damage. if the outskirts are like this, what must the center be after 5 weeks of fighting? as for the supporters of colonel gaddafi here, they are just as fierce and determined as the rebels. it is no wonder the siege has gone on so long. bbc news, on the outskirts of misrata. >> we are joined by a representative from the center for american progress. i am presuming you heard president obama's speech some hours ago, but where he said very clearly he justified

america's position being in libya. did you buy what he said? >> i did. cautiously. i had been hoping for some clarity to the mission and some idea of the next steps. i think president obama successfully gave us that. i think this is a very fluid situation. i think anyone who describes it in state are kind of kidding themselves. this situation is changing. president obama did provide clarity in terms of the real u.s. interest here and how our interests and values united here in this situation. >> he did not actually outline any clear and game. is that what you were hoping he would do? >> i was not necessarily hoping for an end game. as i said, this is a fluid situation. even in the best scenarios, when we imagine and games, the situation can change.

i would have liked to see some better idea of what the next steps were going to be beyond this meeting in london which is going to happen, although i think this meeting of the members of the coalition and the libyan opposition is a very important step, and i am hoping we will see more specifics come out of the london meeting tomorrow. but we did not get that from the speech tonight. >> there was a clear political message when he mentioned nato will take full control of the mission on wednesday, perhaps giving what americans wanted to hear, that they were not the leaders in this mission. nonetheless, america is tied into this for some time. >> there were 2 you will messages here. first was to the american people. we are undergoing a serious economic crisis. there is unemployment. americans are not thrilled we might be spending billions of dollars in another middle eastern country. it was important for him to make

clear that while the u.s. continues to be involved here, we are stepping back and allowing our allies and partners to play a larger role. that gets to the second point. this goes to president obama as vision of america's role in the world, which is as more of a super partners than superpower. we have, by virtue of our military power and influence, a very important role in facilitating the roles that others can play. we need to support, but we also need to ask our allies and partners to carry a larger share. that is an important point he was trying to make tonight. >> thank you very much for speaking to us live from washington. you can get all the latest on the situation in libya by heading to the bbc news web site, where you will have detailed maps of the situation in libya, and the rebel gains alongside more on president

obama's speech. if you are on twitter, you can follow us there. in the past hour, japan's prime minister has said his government is in a state of maximum alert. new pictures embarrassed from inside the 20 kilometer exclusion zone around that damaged complex. at the moment, the only people allowed inside our workers battling radiation leaks. a film crew found some people are still living there, desperate to keep their homes, despite the considerable health risks. the situation at the plant is worsening. for the first time, regular active water has been discovered outside one of the reactors. >> the sign says "danger." this is the zone closest to the

stricken plant. everyone has been ordered out. but this japanese team is going in. at first, the streets seem empty. people left in a hurry, fearing the radiation. they could not take everything with them. but not everyone, it seems, has left. he is a rice farmer. he seems to have little idea of the danger he is in. or else he is choosing to ignore it. he shows them his neighbors farms, the cows left to fend for themselves. >> there are not many goods available. there are not many shops open. there are a lot of firms in the area, so we have vegetables.

>> this area is not safe, the government says, yet the teams find more and more people who stayed. "how long will it last," this man says. "more people will die. more bad things will happen. this is going to get tougher." the tsunami damage is plain to see. the poison from the nuclear plant is invisible. no one knows for certain how bad this really is or whether anybody can ever return here. >> just a reminder of our main news. president obama has warned that as long as colonel gaddafi remains in power libya will be dangerous. he says the country's prolonged -- belonged not to a dictator

but to its people. more on that to come. stay with us. >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold, get the top stories from around the globe and click-to-play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its global expertise to work for a wide range of companies.

what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.