France formally recognises Libya's rebels

[amoy]

In the fight btwn rebels vs government forces, China has already lost a great deal - pull-out of 30,000 nationals + dozens of helf-done projects + outstanding payments - how will that be recovered？

By the way Qaddafi wasn't really friendly with PRC before the turmoil. For example his flirtation (thru his son) with Taiwan ROC. And in term of oilfields most of meat went to the Western companies, while China was given piecemeals.

the current goverment of Iraq and Afghan are both in fact "set up" by "armed force" led by USA,but it doesn't stop the both give most valuable oil gase and mines to CHina.

Iraq is another story. China is a longstanding 'friend' of Kurds and Kurdish Autonomous Region in the north. And it was Kurdish AR awarded to China some key fields. Don't forget incumbent Iraqi President Jalal Talabani (a Kurd) was once a "Maoist" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jalal_

For now it's too hard to predict who can get fish finally from the trouble waters

 

[badguy2000]

They don't give them away... China paid up the ass for them. I am talking about them paying.

yes, China paid up the ass and got rewarded with oil field and mines.
but west countries (including Frenchmen) paid up the blood and life of their solders ,but got rewarded with only one bankrupted economy and trillions of debts.

 

[pmaitra]

well ,what takes place in Lybia has nothing to do with "good vs evil",but a civil war ,which driven by the tribe politics,politics ambitions and west interferaton.

You spoke my mind BadGuy2000.

 

[pmaitra]

White House, intelligence chief split on Libya assessment

White House, intelligence chief split on Libya assessment

By WARREN P. STROBEL AND JONATHAN S. LANDAY
McClatchy Newspapers
Posted: Thursday, Mar. 10, 2011
Charlotte Observer


WASHINGTON The nation's top intelligence official told Congress on Thursday that Moammar Gadhafi will eventually prevail in his war with Libya's rebels, provoking a rare public dispute with the White House, which says its policy is intended to force the Libyan leader from power.

The fissure between the White House and the intelligence community led one top Republican senator to call for the resignation of James Clapper, the director of National Intelligence. But the White House said President Barack Obama retains full confidence in him.

Clapper told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Libyan civil war was descending into a "kind of stalemate back and forth," but that in the long term "the regime will prevail." As the top U.S. intelligence official, Clapper oversees the 16 U.S. intelligence agencies and his assessments generally reflect the community's consensus judgments.

Army Gen. Ronald Burgess, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, endorsed Clapper's assessment, saying momentum was shifting to Gadhafi's forces after initially being with the opposition.

"Whether or not it has fully shifted to Gadhafi's side at this time in-country I think is not clear," Burgess said. "But we have now reached a state of equilibrium where ... the initiative, if you will, may be on the regime side."

Hours after Clapper spoke, Thomas Donilon, Obama's national security adviser, offered a different assessment, suggesting sharply diverging views between the White House and the U.S. intelligence community.

He said the intelligence chiefs' analysis was "static" and "unidimensional," based on the military balance of power, and failing to take into account both Gadhafi's growing isolation and international actions to boost his opponents.

"I'm talking about looking into the future here," said Donilon, who was asked about Clapper's remarks in a conference call with reporters.

Under fire for a response that critics say is timid and too reliant on reaching consensus with allies, the White House on Thursday suspended operations of the Libyan Embassy in Washington and announced that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will meet Libyan opposition leaders next week during a special trip to Tunisia and Egypt, which already have overthrown their autocratic leaders.

But her initiative seemed ultra-cautious compared with that of France, which Thursday became the first major power to recognize the rebels' council as Libya's legitimate government. In Brussels, defense ministers of the 28-member NATO alliance remained divided over calls for imposing a no-fly zone and agreed only to deploy additional ships into the Mediterranean Sea, to enforce a U.N.-approved arms embargo.

Gadhafi lost the eastern half of his country and some western cities to the rebellion last month, but his regime and his remaining military forces appeared to have recovered their balance Thursday. While the situation remains fluid, Gadhafi's forces dislodged rebels from the eastern oil terminal city of Ras Lanuf and seized most of the hard-fought western city of Zawiya, news reports said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., an Armed Services Committee member and a prominent GOP voice on security issues, urged the president to replace Clapper, saying his comments were "not helpful to our national security interests."

"His comments will make the situation more difficult for those opposing Gadhafi. It also undercuts our national efforts to bring about the desired result of Libya moving from dictator to democracy," Graham said in a statement. "Some of his analysis could prove to be accurate, but it should not have been made in such a public forum." Graham didn't attend the hearing.

The U.S. public stance was more guarded than that of U.S. allies.

France and Britain issued a joint statement saying "Moammar Gadhafi and his clique should leave," and urging more support for the opposition.

"We should send the clear political signal that we consider the (National Libyan) Council to be valid political interlocutors, and an important voice for the Libyan people," they said in a joint letter to the European Council, referring to the 30-member transitional body named by the Libyan opposition.

Obama, who has let European and Arab powers publicly take the diplomatic lead during the 3-week-old Libya crisis, hasn't gone that far.

Donlion didn't answer a question about whether Washington would follow France's lead in recognizing the National Libyan Council. But he described the council as the "de facto authorities in parts of Libya where they are in control."

He said U.S. contacts are intended to determine what assistance the council needs, and to understand its leadership structure and intentions.

Donilon also said the administration is sending a U.S. disaster response team into eastern Libya, the first overt U.S. government presence on the ground there since the uprising began on Feb. 17.

Obama's policy is "aimed at the goal of having Gadhafi leave office," the national security adviser reiterated.

But Clapper's testimony underscored how difficult that could be.

He told the Senate committee that he thinks "Gadhafi is in this for the long haul" and that he doesn't think Gadhafi "has any intention ... of leaving."

Later, enumerating his reasons for believing that Gadhafi would prevail, Clapper said that the regime has more military supplies and can count on the army's best trained, "most robustly equipped" units, including the 32nd Brigade, which is commanded by Gadhafi's son, Khamis, and the 9th Brigade.

The bulk of its hardware comprises Russian-made air defenses, artillery, tanks and other vehicles, "and they appear more disciplined about how they treat and repair that equipment," Clapper continued.

The rebels, he said, are "in for a tough row."

Clapper disputed assertions that a no-fly zone could be quickly and easily imposed on Libya, saying Gadhafi commands the Middle East's second largest air defense system after Egypt's.

"They have a lot of Russian equipment, and there is a certain quality in numbers. Some of that equipment has fallen into the oppositionists' hands," he continued.

The system comprises about 31 surface-to-air missile sites and a radar complex that "is focused on protecting the (Mediterranean) coastline where are 80 or 85 percent of the population is," Clapper said. Gadhafi's forces also have "a large, large number" of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles.

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/20...e-house-intelligence-chief.html#ixzz1GLtoGlvk

Mark my words: If Gaddafi can crush the rebellion and take control of the oil fields, the West will again start sending 'feelers' to Gaddafi.

 

[Armand2REP]

Good point BadGuy2000. I guess Sarkozy should hire you as his advisor.

Not really, the US subsidiary of Royal-Dutch Shell won the biggest oil and gas contracts. Most people don't realise most of that company operates in the US. BP won the second most and they are a 50-50 US/UK company. US won big, it just doesn't have their name on it.

 

[pmaitra]

Not really, the US subsidiary of Royal-Dutch Shell won the biggest oil and gas contracts. Most people don't realise most of that company operates in the US. BP won the second most and they are a 50-50 US/UK company. US won big, it just doesn't have their name on it.

It depends. As long as a world power (in most cases it is US) can keep the dictator happy, regardless of how 'democratic' he is or how 'good' his human rights records are, the dictator will keep helping the world power and companies therefrom. However, these dictators eventually get tired of this prompting-from-behind-the-curtains drama, and that is exactly what happened with Saddam. He wanted to look towards the Euro.

 

[Armand2REP]

yes, China paid up the ass and got rewarded with oil field and mines.
but west countries (including Frenchmen) paid up the blood and life of their solders ,but got rewarded with only one bankrupted economy and trillions of debts.

France wasn't part of the Iraq invasion. We won a couple billion in telecom, power plant construction, transportation, agriculture and banking since then.

Total looked at bidding for some contracts in post-war Iraq, but there wasn't much chance of competing with US and UK companies that had the political clout and Chinese companies that were willing to take smaller profits and pay an extra billion. Some of the deals China made would be lucky if they broke even they accepted such low prices per barrel produced. The US and UK got much more profitable deals. The benefits of leading the invasion.

China didn't win mining rights in Iraq. They bought three contracts, 1 oil and two gas which they paid billions for low tier fields. Shell and BP got the big fields. France gets paid $2 billion while you paid $3 billion for unprofitable deals. All CCP cares about is securing its supply regardless of profit. That is not something France is interested in.

 

[pmaitra]

Arab League backs Libya no-fly zone

Arab League backs Libya no-fly zone

12 March 2011; BBC News

Rebel fighters have tried to fight off warplanes with whatever weapons they have

The Arab League has backed the idea of a no-fly zone over Libya, as rebels continue to be pushed back by Colonel Gaddafi's forces.

A special meeting in Cairo voted to ask the UN Security Council to impose the policy until the current crisis ended.

The UK and France have pushed for the idea, but have failed so far to win firm backing from the EU or Nato.

Libyan rebel forces have meanwhile suffered fresh setbacks including the loss of the key oil port of Ras Lanuf.

Reports suggested that the rebel front line had been pushed back even further back, towards the town of Ujala.

The Arab League vote for a no-fly zone was opposed only by Syria and Algeria, reports from the Cairo meeting said.

Nato has previously cited regional support for the idea as a key condition before it could possibly go ahead.

The US welcomed the Arab League's call, saying it strengthened the international pressure on Col Gaddafi and support for the Libyan people.

Map of Libya

The US Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, had earlier been quoted by French news agency AFP as saying it was still not clear whether it was the right policy.

"We can do it - the question is whether it's a wise thing to do and that's the discussion that's going on at a political level," Mr Gates reportedly told reporters on a US military plane after a visit to Bahrain.

Russia, which wields a veto on the UN Security Council, has expressed serious reservations on the issue.

On Friday, EU leaders in Brussels also stopped short of supporting the British and French initiative, saying instead that they would "examine all necessary options" to protect civilians.

The policy would be aimed at preventing Col Gaddafi's forces using warplanes to attack rebel positions, although no clear position has emerged on exactly how this would be achieved.

On the ground in Libya, rebels have continued to lose ground to the superior firepower of Col Gaddafi's forces.

A major new attack was reported near Misrata, thought to be the only significant rebel-held town left in western Libya.

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Benghazi says there are fears the battle for Misrata could be even nastier than the one for Zawiya, which finally fell on Friday after days of fierce fighting.

Misrata is a much bigger city than Zawiya, with a population of some 300,000 people, and one rebel leader has already said he fears a massacre, our correspondent says.

In eastern Libya, fresh strikes near Ujala and Brega were reported by Reuters on Saturday, suggesting that pro-Gaddafi forces were pushing the front line ever further east.

The pan-Arab broadcaster al-Jazeera said one of its cameramen had been killed in an ambush near Benghazi - the main rebel-held city.

In Benghazi itself the mood in the city remains defiant, says the BBC's Pascale Harter: many wounded fighters are returning but other residents are heading for the front line.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12723554

 

[pmaitra]

Libya: Rebels face attack as UN mulls no-fly zone

Libya: Rebels face attack as UN mulls no-fly zone

14 March 2011; BBC News

Video: Jon Leyne reports on the advance of Col Gaddafi's forces

Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces are slowly pushing towards the main rebel-held towns in Libya, reports say.

Ajdabiya, the last major town before the rebel base in Benghazi, came under heavy aerial attack. In the west, ground forces and tanks have begun shelling the town of Zuwara.

Rebels say they have retaken Brega, but the government has denied the claim.

Meanwhile, Russia has said serious questions remain about a no-fly zone, after a UN security council meeting.

The BBC's Barbara Plett says the talks showed that divisions remain about authorising such a zone, with other countries also expressing caution about the prospect.

The Arab League threw its support behind the proposal on Saturday, but Nato and the US have so far appeared reluctant about any direct military involvement in the conflict.

Fresh clashes

With fighting continuing in the east of Libya, it is not clear exactly where the front line is.

The eastern oil town of Brega changed hands several times over the weekend, amid a relentless barrage of air and ground attacks by government forces.

At the scene

Wyre Davies
BBC News, Tripoli

I am now standing outside Tripoli's main international airport and it is a sea of human misery.

There are hundreds, thousands, of mainly African workers - people who work in the oil industry, people or in the construction industry and have literally been abandoned at the airport.

They can't get flights out of here, either because they can't afford it or there simply are no flights.

There are men, women and children with bags piled up high. When a truck comes along with water or oranges or some fruit for them, people crowd round the truck.

These people are desperate to get out of Libya, desperate to get home, desperate to avoid this crisis.

Rebel forces said on Monday that they had retaken the town, capturing a number of elite government troops and killing others. The statement has not been independently confirmed.

In western Libya, a government assault on the rebel-held city of Misrata seems to have stalled, says the BBC's Jon Leyne from the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

Misrata, some 200km (130 miles) east of the capital, is the only major city held by insurgents outside the east of the country.

According to rebel leaders, fighting has broken out amongst government army units, some of whom do not want to attack Libyan civilians.

Col Gaddafi's forces have meanwhile entered the opposition held town of Zuwara, west of the city of Zawiya which they retook last week, according to Reuters news agency.

"I can see the tanks from where I am now and they are around 500 meters from the centre of Zuwara," Tarek Abdullah, a resident, told Reuters.

"There are still clashes but I think soon the whole town will fall into their hands," he said.

Other residents have reported intensified shelling which sent people running from their houses, afraid of being hit.

East of Brega, and beyond rebel lines, pro-Gaddafi planes bombed the town of Ajdabiya, rebels said. Ajdabiya is the last big population centre before the main rebel city, Benghazi.

The rebel's top commander, former interior minister Gen Abdel Fatah Younis, said that the war was entering a crucial phase.

"The battle for Ajdabiya is very important for us," he told a news conference in Benghazi on Sunday. "We feel that the enemy will have serious logistical problems in supplying their troops," he added.

'No consensus'

Map of Libya

As the fighting gets closer to the major city of Benghazi, there is the potential for many more civilian casualties, particularly if Col Gaddafi's aircraft can operate unchecked, our correspondent says.

The Arab League asked the UN Security Council to enforce a no-fly zone on Saturday, but no consensus emerged from the UN talks on Monday.

The policy would be aimed at preventing Col Gaddafi's forces using warplanes to attack rebel positions, although no clear position has emerged on exactly how this would be achieved.

Our correspondent says that France was hoping an agreement on such a zone would be a game-changer, but that other countries remained cautious.

Diplomats said these included not only Russia and China, who traditionally oppose international intervention, but also the US, Germany, South Africa and Brazil, our correspondent says.

After Monday's meeting, Russian UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said that questions remained about a no-fly zone, but indicated that Moscow had not ruled out the proposal.

Nato has previously cited regional and international support for the idea as a key condition before it could possibly go ahead.

Turkey, the only Muslim member of Nato, has strongly opposed the idea, warning that foreign military intervention could create "dangerous results".

The EU's foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton has said a mission has been sent to rebel-held Benghazi to gather information and assess the situation.

British Prime Minister David Cameron continued to press for action, saying Col Gaddafi should not be allowed to continue "brutalising his own people".

In a statement to the British House of Commons, he did not rule out the possibility of arming the Libyan rebels - although he acknowledged that there were difficulties, including the continuing UN arms embargo.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12731079

 

[pmaitra]

Why Russia could go soft on Gaddafi

Why Russia could go soft on Gaddafi

Russia and Libya strike 1.3 billion euro military deal (Published: 30 January, 2010, 18:29; Edited: 31 January, 2010, 12:35)

Quoted from another thread:

How reliable are reports emanating from Libya?

Russia Today Speaks ...

 

[pmaitra]

France Becomes First Country to Recognize Libyan Rebels

France Becomes First Country to Recognize Libyan Rebels

By ALAN COWELL and STEVEN ERLANGER
Published: March 10, 2011
New York Times

PARIS — Moving ahead of its allies, France on Thursday became the first country to recognize Libya's rebel leadership in the eastern city of Benghazi and said it would soon exchange ambassadors with the insurgents.

The move was a victory for the Libyan National Council in its quest for recognition and a setback for Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi who has been seeking whatever international support he can as NATO members in Brussels began a debate about the possible imposition of a no-flight zone over Libya.

The French announcement came as loyalist forces in Libya claimed new successes against the rebels west of the capital in the town of Zawiyah, while, to the east, loyalist forces renewed ferocious assaults on the key oil town of Ras Lanuf.

President Nicolas Sarkozy met in Paris on Thursday with Mahmoud Jibril and Ali Al-Esawi, representatives of the Libyan National Council that was set up after the uprising in Libya erupted in February. He was the first head of state to meet with insurgent leaders.

Soon afterward, a French announcement said France recognized the council as the sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people. News reports said that, in response, Libya would break diplomatic relations with France.

The move puts France ahead of other European powers that have been seeking ways of supporting the rebels in their goal of toppling Colonel Qaddafi. Normally, European Union countries say they recognize states, not governments, but the European Parliament has advocated recognition of the rebel leadership in Benghazi.

France has also set itself apart from some other nations, including the United States, by insisting that any military support for the rebels be authorized by the United Nations Security Council, but not carried out by NATO, since the alliance has an aggressive image in the Arab world. Washington favors using NATO. While he was out of government, Alain Juppé, the new French foreign minister, opposed France resuming full membership in NATO.

France's aggressive diplomatic stance is seen as a way of showing commitment to the popular uprisings and democratic changes in the Middle East and North Africa, after Mr. Sarkozy admitted that Paris was slow to recognize the strength of the revolutionary movements in Tunisia, a former French protectorate, and Egypt.

The British and German governments both indicated on Thursday that their practice was to recognize only states, but British authorities called the rebels "valid interlocutors with whom we wish to work closely."

In a highly embarrassing incident last weekend, Britain sent a small contingent of diplomats and special forces to try to make contact with the rebels in Benghazi, but they were arrested and later withdrew aboard a British warship sent to pick them up.

For its part, Germany on Thursday ordered the freezing of Libyan assets, which the finance ministry in Berlin said were worth "billions." Rainer Brüderle, the German finance minister, said the decision would affect about 193 accounts held at 14 financial institutions in Germany.

In Brussels, NATO officials said on Thursday that the alliance has started 24-hour surveillance of Libyan airspace where Colonel Qaddafi has deployed warplanes against rebels trying to advance westward toward loyalist strongholds along the shores of the Gulf of Sirte.

But it was unclear what further steps NATO would end up taking, if any. The alliance's secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, told reporters that NATO was considering a "range of options," including humanitarian help, but that any move would be governed by three principles: that there was "demonstrable need," a "clear legal basis" and "firm regional support."

The Libyan National Council has been pressing for foreign aid amid divisions over the extent of external intervention in a revolt that rebel leaders want to preserve as a home-grown phenomenon. The insurgents have acknowledged being overwhelmed by the myriad tasks and challenges facing them.

"We've found ourselves in a vacuum," Mustafa Gheriani, an acting spokesman for the provisional leadership, said Tuesday in Benghazi. "Instead of worrying about establishing a transitional government, all we worry about are the needs — security, what people require, where the uprising is going. Things are moving too fast."

In the evolving diplomacy surrounding the conflict, Colonel Qaddafi has sent envoys across Europe and, according to some reports, Latin America and Africa, in many cases to argue against international intervention.

On Wednesday, emissaries were reported to have visited Egypt, Greece, Portugal, Malta and Brussels, where European Union foreign ministers were meeting Thursday to discuss Libya.

Greece confirmed that the colonel himself had spoken with Prime Minister George A. Papandreou and a government statement in South Africa said that he had spoken by telephone with President Jacob Zuma.

South Africa's international relations minister, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, said on Thursday that Mr. Zuma told Colonel Qaddafi that South Africa "abhors the heinous human rights violations against his own people."

"We took advantage through our president to tell him this has to stop with immediate effect," the South African Press Association news agency reported.

Judy Dempsey contributed reporting from Berlin.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/world/europe/11france.html

 

[pmaitra]

Rebel Benghazi to get ambassador

Rebel Benghazi to get ambassador

Click for Video

LATEST UPDATE: 11/03/2011
France24
By Shirli SITBON (video)
Leela JACINTO (text)

In a major diplomatic victory for the Libyan opposition, France has become the first country to formally recognise Libya's rebel leadership, pledging to exchange ambassadors between Paris and the Libyan opposition stronghold of Benghazi.

France became the first country to formally recognize the Libyan opposition – the Interim Transitional National Council – as legitimate representatives of the Libyan people on Thursday, pledging to exchange ambassadors with the country's newly created transitional council in a major diplomatic victory for the Libyan opposition.

The announcement followed a meeting between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and two representatives of Libya's Interim Transitional National Council in Paris Thursday

Speaking to reporters at the Elysée presidential palace in Paris, Ali al Issawi, a former Libyan ambassador to India who quit his post last month, announced that, "France recognises the National Council as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people.

"There will be an exchange of ambassadors between Paris and Benghazi," he added, referring to the eastern Libyan city that has emerged as a rebel stronghold over the past few weeks.
The recognition comes as European Union foreign ministers meet in Brussels Thursday and defense ministers of NATO's 28 member states also gathered in the Belgian capital to consider the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya.

Ahead of the Brussels meeting, AFP reported that Sarkozy would propose "targeted airstrikes" in Libya as a way to end the violence.

Reacting to the news of France's diplomatic recognition, Imane Boughaighis, media organizer for Libya's Interim Transitional National Council, said the Libyan people were "very grateful" to the French government.

"We thank the French government and the people of Libya will never forget that they (the French government) were the first country to recognize us and they stood with us in our difficult time."

In Benghazi, people gathered near the National Council's headquarters, honking cars and cheering as some fired celebratory gunshot rounds, according to Reuters.

In a phone interview with FRANCE 24 from Benghazi, Boughaighis said she hoped France's formal recognition of the opposition would trigger a domino effect across Europe.

Diplomatic dominoes or diplomatic tit-for-tat?

In a sign of a likely diplomatic tit-for-tat between Paris and Tripoli, the official Libyan news agency Jana quoted an unnamed foreign ministry official as saying Libya "will think about severing its relations with France because of information being circulated about France's damaging intervention in Libya's internal affairs."

When asked whether Italy would follow France's example, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said his government would seek the opinion of other European countries before deciding whether to recognise Libyan rebels as the country's legitimate representatives.

"That's a decision by a single government," Berlusconi told a news conference Thursday. "I think it's better for us to listen to the stance of the entire European community."

The Italian foreign minister, Franco Frattini, underlined the point by saying that that Italy "will not participate in air strikes on Libyan territory".

Italy, Libya's former colonial power, is Tripoli's main European trading partner, importing about 25 percent of its oil and 12 percent of its gas from the North African nation.

Hours after the announcement at the Elysée presidential palace, a British Foreign Office spokesman said members of the Interim Transitional National Council were "valid interlocutors with whom we wish to work closely".

Gaddafi in the image race

As the search for a coordinated international response to the Libyan conflict has gained momentum, embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has also sent envoys to a number of European countries, according to numerous reports.

On Wednesday, the Portuguese foreign ministry confirmed that Foreign Minister Luis Amado had "an informal meeting in a Lisbon hotel with a Libyan emissary, on the request of the latter". No further details of the meeting were revealed.

Portugal chairs the UN Security Council's committee on sanctions for Libya starting this week.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini has also confirmed that Gaddafi's regime "is moving towards contact" with the international community after a senior Gaddafi aide arrived in Cairo Wednesday.

Source: http://www.france24.com/en/20110310-France-NTC-national-transitional-council-embassy-Libya

Commentary:
This could become a major embarrassment for France in general and Sarkozy in particular.

 

[sandeepdg]

I think France should go it alone for enforcing a no-fly zone since it is the one most concerned about Libya. Let's see what capabilities it has.

 

[pmaitra]

I think France should go it alone for enforcing a no-fly zone since it is the one most concerned about Libya. Let's see what capabilities it has.

You are asking France to further embarrass itself mate. I have a feeling that people in the French political circles have realised that they might have acted in haste.

 

[pmaitra]

Libya: Government and rebels still battling for Brega

Libya: Government and rebels still battling for Brega

15 March 2011; BBC News

Video: Jon Leyne in Benghazi says the situation in eastern Libya remains volatile

Heavy fighting has been continuing in Libya between government and rebel forces for the eastern town of Brega.

The oil town has changed hands several times over recent days. Reports now suggest the rebels are losing control.

In the west, government forces appear to have retaken Zuwara and are shelling Misrata city.

Meanwhile, Britain and France tabled a draft resolution at the UN Security Council that would ban all flights over Libya to prevent Tripoli's air attacks.

However, there is still a lot of opposition, and not only from the Russians and Chinese, which traditionally oppose military intervention, the BBC's Barbara Plett at the UN reports.

Germany too has said there are many unanswered questions, and the Americans have not declared their position, our correspondent says.

On Tuesday, Libyan government planes also bombed the outskirts of Ajdabiya, the last town before the rebel base in Benghazi in the east.

The sound of rocket fire has been getting louder in the town, while the frequency of ambulances and trucks bringing wounded to the main hospital has been increasing, AFP news agency reports.

Libyan state TV says the government has gained control of the town, but this has not been independently verified, and reports suggest that fighting is continuing.

Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi addressed his supporters in Tripoli, describing the rebels as "rats".

'Convoy attacked'

In Brega, it seems rebel fighters have been hiding inside the oil installation in the daytime, in the belief that the government does not want to shell the facility, says the BBC's Jon Leyne in Benghazi.

Opposition sources are also saying there are divisions within the government ranks, with some troops apparently reluctant to fire on civilians, our correspondent adds.

Meanwhile, a convoy of five civilian vehicles travelling to Brega is reported to have been attacked and a number of women and children were killed.

A German writer and former member of parliament said he was driving near Brega when he was overtaken by the convoy. He later found the vehicles destroyed and everyone killed, and said he believed it was a ground attack using rocket-propelled grenades.

Meanwhile, it appears that government troops have taken over Zuwara, the last rebel town in the west, near the Tunisian border.

A resident in Zuwara said security forces were trying to round up anyone suspected of links to the rebels.

"They have lists of names and are looking for the rebels," the resident told Reuters news agency. "They also took a number of rebels as hostages."

According to a report from Libyan state TV, an aircraft carrying people who it called "traitors" landed in an airport in Benghazi on Tuesday and stayed for about two hours.

"It is thought that it had carried a number of leading traitors and agents," the channel reported.

The G8 group of foreign ministers, who met in France earlier on Tuesday, called on the UN to increase pressure on the Gaddafi regime.

But despite recent talk of the imposition of a no-fly zone - an idea backed by France - the group made no mention of the prospect in its final communique.

G8 foreign ministers "agreed that the UN Security Council should increase the pressure, including through economic measures, for Muammar Gaddafi to leave", said the French minister, Alain Juppe.

The Arab League has been pushing for a no-fly zone that would ground Libyan aircraft to protect people from assault by forces loyal to Col Gaddafi.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12742858

 

[Armand2REP]

I think France should go it alone for enforcing a no-fly zone since it is the one most concerned about Libya. Let's see what capabilities it has.

France and UK are getting nowhere in the UN, EU and G8. It is time to put this new alliance into action and go it alone. Gaddafi calls Sarko insane, if he doesn't act he must be right.

 

[civfanatic]

Do France and UK have enough assets to enforce a no-fly zone? I thought the Brits don't operate a carrier anymore.

 

[badguy2000]

France and UK are getting nowhere in the UN, EU and G8. It is time to put this new alliance into action and go it alone. Gaddafi calls Sarko insane, if he doesn't act he must be right.

Armand, you had better tell your fellow Frenchmen in Lybia package and go home now.....otherwise, they should be asskicked out of Lybia soon....

 

[Armand2REP]

Do France and UK have enough assets to enforce a no-fly zone? I thought the Brits don't operate a carrier anymore.

UK has a base on Cyprus, France has several bases on the Med including Corsica to fly from. We have plenty of tankers to keep them airbourne. Of course we have CdG. AWACs are cleared to fly out of Malta. We don't have to cover the whole country, just the coast. France could do it alone if needed, with the UK it is a piece of cake. It just takes the political will.

 

[badguy2000]

UK has a base on Cyprus, France has several bases on the Med including Corsica to fly from. We have plenty of tankers to keep them airbourne. Of course we have CdG. AWACs are cleared to fly out of Malta. We don't have to cover the whole country, just the coast. France could do it alone if needed, with the UK it is a piece of cake. It just takes the political will.

well, if France were to send several thousand soldiers there, then they would be arrested by local police.....hahaha....