If Washington, as well as its NATO and Arab allies, fail to drive Gadhafi from power, he inevitably will try to carry out retaliatory strikes that would be worse than the Pan-Am attack, Ali Aujali said during a forum in Washington.

He also urged the Obama administration to become “the major player” in the Libyan situation and said Washington should recognize a top opposition group as that nation’s legitimate government.

Aujali said he remains unsure why the Obama White House has yet to formally call Libya’s Transitional National Council that nation’s new government, as other governments have. Aujali is a member of the council.