WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-NM), a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, issued the following statement today on the reported death of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi:
"The death of Moammar Gadhafi closes the final chapter in the dictator's four-decade-long rule. It also marks the beginning of an evolution that will hold a combination of new hopes and challenges for the emerging government and the Libyan people. This is an important moment for the nation of Libya. I encourage the Transitional National Council to begin forming a government and creating the institutions which can tend to the needs of the Libyan people, while fostering an environment that encourages peace and reconciliation."