Hardening stance, US warns of need for Libya action

UN Security Council © AFP Stan Honda

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States toughened its stance on the Libya crisis Thursday, suggesting urgent action was needed to stop Moamer Kadhafi's advancing forces and prevent him from returning to "terrorism."

Under secretary of state for political affairs William Burns spelled out to US lawmakers the worsening situation for Libya's desperate rebels as Kadhafi moved to trounce the most serious uprising against his regime since he took power more than four decades ago.

"There is also a very real danger that if Kadhafi is successful on the ground, that you also face a number of considerable risks as well, the dangers of him returning to terrorism and violent extremism himself, the dangers of the turmoil that he could help create at every moment elsewhere in the region," Burns told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"The situation is very fluid, but they're making advances" due to superior military firepower, Burns said of Kadhafi's forces, adding they were just 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

The comments came as the United Nations mulled a resolution against the North African nation including a no-fly zone -- with Burns pressing the 15-member Security Council to act swiftly and forcefully.

"We're working hard to try to produce a serious resolution and produce it quickly," Burns said, stressing the need for rapid action "given the pace of events on the ground" in Libya.

Even if the UN approved a no-fly zone, the chief of the US Air Force said Thursday that imposing such a restriction on Libyan airspace would not be enough to reverse Kadhafi's advancing forces.

General Norton Schwartz told senators that the US military could shut down Kadhafi's air force if ordered but suggested more action would be required to push back his troops.

"The question is, is a no-fly zone the last step or is it the first step?" Schwartz said.

On Wednesday, Washington's UN ambassador Susan Rice said the Security Council needs "to contemplate steps that involve but perhaps go beyond a no-fly zone."

US President Barack Obama has taken pains to ensure that Washington cannot be accused of trying to shape the raging revolts in the Arab world, and has sought international backing for any military action.

But Obama opponents in Congress have criticized him as being too slow to respond to calls to mount a no-fly zone over Libya to protect civilians.

The West has been "acting very slow," Ali Suleiman Aujali, Libya's former ambassador to Washington who has turned against Kadhafi, said on CNN.

"There is no time for deliberation now," he said. "I made a plea to President Obama to move, to do something."

© AFP -- Published at Activist Post with license

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No-fly zone supporters demand UN vote

US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice
© AFP/Getty Images Mario Tama

AFP

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - France, Britain and the United States pressed for a UN Security Council vote on Thursday on a no fly zone to halt Moamer Kadhafi's attacks on rebels.

While China, Russia, Germany and other members of the 15-member council have expressed opposition or doubts about military action in Libya, the United States said even stronger measures than a no-fly zone may be needed.

Britain, France and the United States put forward a draft resolution, which includes a no-fly zone, for a vote "to put pressure on the council to act quickly and decisively," said one diplomat.

Final talks will be held before envoys give their verdict and the draft could still be changed, diplomats from the three countries acknowledged in a sign that the diplomatic battle over the UN action is not yet over.
Russia made a counter proposition for a ceasefire resolution as a stop-gap before a full sanctions measure, the country's envoy Vitaly Churkin told reporters. This did not get enough support for a vote.

Pressure on the council mounted as Libya's deputy UN envoy, Ibrahim Dabbashi, who has turned against Kadhafi, said "the international community has to act within the next 10 hours" to prevent "genocide".

He said he had information that Kadhafi forces, backed by hundreds of mercenaries from Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Burundi and Chad, were preparing major offensives in eastern and western Chad.

US ambassador Susan Rice said the council was discussing "a range of actions" including a no-fly zone.

But she added: "We need to be prepared to contemplate steps that include, but perhaps go beyond, a no-fly zone at this point, as the situation on the ground has evolved, and as a no-fly zone has inherent limitations in terms of protection of civilians at immediate risk."

Kadhafi's forces have inflicted several defeats on rebels in recent days and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also hinted at a hardening Washington stance earlier when she said the United States wanted a vote by the end of Thursday.

France and Britain had led the demands for a no-fly zone and French President Nicolas Sarkozy wrote to the heads of state or government of all the other council members seeking urgent backing for the measure.

"Together, we can save the martyred people of Libya. It is now a matter of days, if not hours," he said in the letter.

The UN Security Council ordered a travel ban and assets freeze against the Kadhafi regime on February 26. Sarkozy said that since then "the Libyan regime has ignored the unanimous demands of the council and has continued its murderous actions against its population."

The no-fly zone is backed by the Arab League and the ambassador for Lebanon, the Arab representative on the Security Council, said several Arab states were ready to take part in the operation. He did not identify any states, however.

Kadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam, predicted in an interview with the Euronews channel that the rebellion would be over in two days.

"I hope that the Security Council will prove Mr Seif Islam wrong," retorted the Lebanese envoy Nawaf Salam as he pressed for a tough resolution.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon called for a ceasefire by Kadhafi's forces and Libyan rebels ahead of an expected offensive on Benghazi.

Ban "is gravely concerned about the increasing military escalation by government forces, which include indications of an assault on the city of Benghazi," said spokesman Martin Nesirky.

"A campaign to bombard such an urban center would massively place civilian lives at risk. The secretary general is urging all parties in this conflict to accept an immediate ceasefire and to abide by Security Council Resolution 1970," which was passed on February 26.

© AFP -- Published at Activist Post with license

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