The top U.S. military commander Michael Mullen said here Wednesday the military operation in Libya is making slow progress as other options are under consideration for forcing Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to leave.
"What I have seen is what I would call very slow progress," said the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff on a visit to Egypt.
Mullen's remarks came in a press conference after talks with Hussein Tantawi, chief of Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
He reiterated that the United States would not involve in any ground operation in Libya, adding that his country still adheres to its stance to force Gaddafi to leave.
"It's the U.S. position that Gaddafi has to leave and it is a challenge for anybody to put a timetable to that," said Mullen.
As to Yemen, Mullen said all the concerned parties in Yemen and the whole Arab region should reach an agreement to avoid civil war.
"I would certainly urge leaders from every side of this challenge to be calm and try to resolve the issues peacefully," Mullen said.
Mullen said the U.S. is particularly worried about the dangerous operations of terrorist groups in Yemen, such as the al- Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
"There are vast areas out of the control of the government where the terrorist groups like al-Qaeda existed," he said.
In response to question about the U.S. stance towards the recent development in the Middle East, Mullen said "every country is a separate case and we couldn't generalize or adopt one policy. The situation is different in Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Bahrain and Libya."