Arab League chief hits out at strikes on Libya
Source: Agencies |
March 21, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
WESTERN forces yesterday pounded Libya's air defences and patrolled its skies, but their day-old intervention hit a serious diplomatic setback as the Arab League chief condemned the bombardment of civilians.
As European and United States forces unleashed warplanes and cruise missiles against Muammar Gadhafi's forces, the Libyan leader vowed to fight to the death.
While his eastern forces fled from the outskirts of Benghazi in the face of the air attacks, Gadhafi sent tanks into Misrata, the last rebel city in western Libya.
Sixty-four people were killed in the Western bombardment, a Libyan government health official said.
Arab League chief Amr Moussa called for an emergency meeting of the group of 22 states to discuss Libya. He requested a report into the bombardment which he said had "led to the deaths and injuries of many Libyan civilians."
"What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians," Moussa said.
Gadhafi vowed to defeat the Western powers' "terrorism."
European and US forces sent warplanes and cruise missiles against Libya's targets on Saturday in a United Nations-backed intervention to prevent Gadhafi "killing civilians" as he fights an uprising against his 41-year rule.
But Gadhafi said on state television: "We will not leave our land and we will liberate it. We will remain alive and you will all die."
Arab backing for a no-fly zone provided crucial underpinning for the passage of the UN Security Council resolution last week that paved the way for the Western intervention, the biggest against an Arab country since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Withdrawal of that support would make it much harder to pursue what some defence analysts say could in any case be a difficult, open-ended campaign with an uncertain outcome.
The US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said the no-fly zone was effectively in place. But he told CBS the endgame of military action was "very uncertain" and acknowledged it could end in a stalemate with Gadhafi.
Mullen said he had seen no reports of civilian casualties from the strikes. But Russia said there had been such casualties and called on Britain, France and the US to halt the "non-selective use of force."
The aerial assault stopped in its tracks the advance by Gadhafi's troops into the eastern city of Benghazi, and left the burned and shattered remains of his tanks and troop carriers littering the main road outside the rebel stronghold.
The charred bodies of at least 14 government soldiers lay scattered in the desert.
French planes fired the first shots of the intervention on Saturday, destroying tanks and armored vehicles near Benghazi. The eastern city is the cradle of the anti-Gadhafi revolt that began last month, inspired by Arab uprisings that toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt.
France sent an aircraft carrier towards Libya and its planes were over the country again yesterday, defence officials said. Britain said its planes had targeted Libya's air defences around the capital Tripoli.
US and British warships and submarines launched 110 Tomahawk missiles overnight against air defences around Tripoli and Misrata, US military officials said.
They said US forces and planes were working with Britain, France, Canada and Italy in operation "Odyssey Dawn." Denmark said it had four fighter planes ready to join in and was awaiting US instructions.
Gadhafi said all Libyans had now been armed to defend the country.
As European and United States forces unleashed warplanes and cruise missiles against Muammar Gadhafi's forces, the Libyan leader vowed to fight to the death.
While his eastern forces fled from the outskirts of Benghazi in the face of the air attacks, Gadhafi sent tanks into Misrata, the last rebel city in western Libya.
Sixty-four people were killed in the Western bombardment, a Libyan government health official said.
Arab League chief Amr Moussa called for an emergency meeting of the group of 22 states to discuss Libya. He requested a report into the bombardment which he said had "led to the deaths and injuries of many Libyan civilians."
"What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians," Moussa said.
Gadhafi vowed to defeat the Western powers' "terrorism."
European and US forces sent warplanes and cruise missiles against Libya's targets on Saturday in a United Nations-backed intervention to prevent Gadhafi "killing civilians" as he fights an uprising against his 41-year rule.
But Gadhafi said on state television: "We will not leave our land and we will liberate it. We will remain alive and you will all die."
Arab backing for a no-fly zone provided crucial underpinning for the passage of the UN Security Council resolution last week that paved the way for the Western intervention, the biggest against an Arab country since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Withdrawal of that support would make it much harder to pursue what some defence analysts say could in any case be a difficult, open-ended campaign with an uncertain outcome.
The US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said the no-fly zone was effectively in place. But he told CBS the endgame of military action was "very uncertain" and acknowledged it could end in a stalemate with Gadhafi.
Mullen said he had seen no reports of civilian casualties from the strikes. But Russia said there had been such casualties and called on Britain, France and the US to halt the "non-selective use of force."
The aerial assault stopped in its tracks the advance by Gadhafi's troops into the eastern city of Benghazi, and left the burned and shattered remains of his tanks and troop carriers littering the main road outside the rebel stronghold.
The charred bodies of at least 14 government soldiers lay scattered in the desert.
French planes fired the first shots of the intervention on Saturday, destroying tanks and armored vehicles near Benghazi. The eastern city is the cradle of the anti-Gadhafi revolt that began last month, inspired by Arab uprisings that toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt.
France sent an aircraft carrier towards Libya and its planes were over the country again yesterday, defence officials said. Britain said its planes had targeted Libya's air defences around the capital Tripoli.
US and British warships and submarines launched 110 Tomahawk missiles overnight against air defences around Tripoli and Misrata, US military officials said.
They said US forces and planes were working with Britain, France, Canada and Italy in operation "Odyssey Dawn." Denmark said it had four fighter planes ready to join in and was awaiting US instructions.
Gadhafi said all Libyans had now been armed to defend the country.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
