Libya pledges truce to fend off West
Source: Agencies |
March 19, 2011, Saturday
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LIBYA declared an immediate cease-fire and promised to stop military operations yesterday in a bid to fend off international military intervention after the UN authorized a no-fly zone and "all necessary measures" to prevent Libyan government from striking its own people.
The announcement by Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa followed a fierce attack by Colonel Moammar Gadhafi's forces against Misrata, the last rebel-held city in the western half of the country.
The United Nations Security Council resolution, which was passed late on Thursday after weeks of deliberation, set the stage for airstrikes, a no-fly zone and other military measures short of a ground invasion.
Britain announced that it would send fighter jets and France was making plans to deploy planes, but the United States had yet to announce what its role would be. NATO also held an emergency meeting.
With the international community mobilizing, Koussa said the government would cease fire in line with the resolution, although he criticized the authorization of international military action, calling it a violation of Libya's sovereignty. "The government is opening channels for true, serious dialogue with all parties," he said during a news conference in Tripoli, the capital.
The attack on Misrata, Libya's third-largest city, came as the rebels were on the defensive in their eastern stronghold after Gadhafi vowed to launch a final assault and crush the nearly 5-week-old rebellion against him.
The Western powers faced pressure to act urgently after weeks spent deliberating over what to do about Gadhafi as his regime gained momentum. The US has positioned a host of forces and ships in the region, including submarines and destroyers and amphibious assault and landing ships with some 400 Marines aboard. It also could provide a range of surveillance assets.
In an interview with Portuguese television broadcast just before the UN vote, Gadhafi pledged to respond harshly to UN-sponsored attacks. "If the world is crazy," he said, "we will be crazy, too."
Misrata is the last rebel holdout in the western half of the country after Gadhafi recaptured a string of other cities that had fallen to the opposition early in the uprising that began on February 15. Its fall would leave the country largely divided, with the rebels bottled up in the east near the border with Egypt.
The announcement by Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa followed a fierce attack by Colonel Moammar Gadhafi's forces against Misrata, the last rebel-held city in the western half of the country.
The United Nations Security Council resolution, which was passed late on Thursday after weeks of deliberation, set the stage for airstrikes, a no-fly zone and other military measures short of a ground invasion.
Britain announced that it would send fighter jets and France was making plans to deploy planes, but the United States had yet to announce what its role would be. NATO also held an emergency meeting.
With the international community mobilizing, Koussa said the government would cease fire in line with the resolution, although he criticized the authorization of international military action, calling it a violation of Libya's sovereignty. "The government is opening channels for true, serious dialogue with all parties," he said during a news conference in Tripoli, the capital.
The attack on Misrata, Libya's third-largest city, came as the rebels were on the defensive in their eastern stronghold after Gadhafi vowed to launch a final assault and crush the nearly 5-week-old rebellion against him.
The Western powers faced pressure to act urgently after weeks spent deliberating over what to do about Gadhafi as his regime gained momentum. The US has positioned a host of forces and ships in the region, including submarines and destroyers and amphibious assault and landing ships with some 400 Marines aboard. It also could provide a range of surveillance assets.
In an interview with Portuguese television broadcast just before the UN vote, Gadhafi pledged to respond harshly to UN-sponsored attacks. "If the world is crazy," he said, "we will be crazy, too."
Misrata is the last rebel holdout in the western half of the country after Gadhafi recaptured a string of other cities that had fallen to the opposition early in the uprising that began on February 15. Its fall would leave the country largely divided, with the rebels bottled up in the east near the border with Egypt.
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