Hillary Clinton on Kadafi reports: ‘Wow’ [Video]

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Kabul, Afghanistan on Thursday when an aide handed her a phone with the news that deposed Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi was reportedly captured.

“Wow,” was her immediate response.

“Unconfirmed reports about Kadafi being captured,” she told the room of aides and television crews. Later reports revealed that the former Libyan strongman had been killed.

PHOTOS: Moammar Kadafi | 1942 - 2011

The reaction that followed reflects the skepticism that had developed over a months-long drama that saw multiple false reports of Kadafi’s capture.

“We’ve had a bunch of those before,” she said. “We’ve had, you know, have had him captured a couple of times.”

In an interview shortly after, Clinton discussed with NBC’s Mike Viqueira what Kadafi’s death could mean for Libyans.

“I think there’s a big sigh of relief,” she said. “The job is still daunting. But they won’t be quite as worried that they have to be constantly looking over their shoulder at him.”

“Now, there still may be remnants of Kadafi loyalists, and they’ll have to contend with them,” she added. “But I think removing him as the organizing figure of a resistance is a very positive step, if indeed it’s true.” (Video below)

kim.geiger@latimes.com