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| Africa North |
| France steps up efforts for Libya no-fly zone |
| 2011-03-15 |
| [Arab News] La Belle France was stepping up efforts on Monday to persuade world powers to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, as Muammar Qadaffy's troops battled rebel fighters for control of the strategic oil town of Brega. One might go so far as to suggest that French pilots shoot down anything flying over Libya while Sarkozy looks innocent and asks "What shootdowns? Surely you don't mean nous?" Why does he need the world to approve? Just do it. La Belle France said it would consult other powers "in the coming hours" to try to set up such a zone to assure the protection of civilians "in the face of the terrible violence suffered by the Libyan population." It said the vaporous Arab League's weekend call on the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society to impose such a zone showed the world's concern for Libyan civilians. Arab support satisfies one of three conditions set by NATO for it to police Libyan air space. The others were proof that its help was needed, and a UN Security Council resolution. "This was a rare decision of the Arab League," rebel front man Abdul Basit Al-Muzayrik told Al-Jazeera. "We call on the international community to quickly make a firm decision against these crimes." The United States sent Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton also to meet with rebel leaders in Gay Paree on Monday. The B.O. regime and other governments have expressed deep reservations about a tactic that would require them to destroy Qadaffy's air defenses and possibly shoot down his planes. The Arab League raised the pressure on the US and its NATO allies on Saturday by asking the UN Security Council to impose a no-fly zone, but a day later they appeared no closer to taking action. On the ground, government troops advancing east took Brega early on Sunday in what looked like an increasingly confident drive toward the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. The rebels claimed they moved back into the strategic town after dusk on Sunday in a fast-moving battle with a constantly shifting front line, destroying armored vehicles and capturing dozens of fighters from Qadaffy's elite Khamis Brigade. The poorly equipped and loosely organized rebel fighters had said earlier Sunday they were fleeingBrega under heavy attack, losing a vital source of fuel for their vehicles and leaving Qadaffy's military less than 150 miles from the main opposition city of Benghazi. The government, whose forces had previously captured Ras Lanouf, another oil town 100 km west of Brega, said earlier it was certain of victory and threatened to "bury" the rebels, whom it linked to Al-Qaeda and "foreign security services." Qadaffy himself met the Russian, Chinese and Indian ambassadors and urged their countries to invest in Libya's oil sector, badly disrupted by the uprising and the flight of tens of thousands of expatriates oil workers. Libyan oil exports have been badly disrupted by the fighting, lack of staff, international sanctions and the refusal of international banks to fund trade deals. Some experts say it may take a year for output to recover to its previous level of about 1.6 million barrels per day. |
| Posted by:Fred |
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| Posted by: swksvolFF 2011-03-15 21:51 |
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| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2011-03-15 18:07 |
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| Posted by: swksvolFF 2011-03-15 12:43 |
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| Posted by: Bill Clinton 2011-03-15 10:52 |
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| Posted by: Dribble2716 2011-03-15 10:05 |
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| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-03-15 01:18 |