[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree backing the UN Security Council resolution that endorsed international military action against Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy
...who single-handedly turned a moderately prosperous kingdom into a dictator's fantasyland...
, the presidential press service said.
Russia had abstained from voting on UN Resolution 1973, which imposed a no-fly zone over Libya and tightened sanctions on the North African country, when the measure was presented in March.
Russia has been critical of the NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
-led military operations in Libya, calling for a peaceful and political solution to the crisis.
But the presidential decree, posted on the Kremlin's website, said Russia has now agreed to ban all flights to Libya in Russian air space with the exception of flights for humanitarian purposes or for making an emergency landing.
In addition, Russian military ships have been allowed to inspect vessels in the open sea going to or from Libya, provided Russia has information about the military use of the vessels.
The decree also bans all financial operations involving the assets belonging of Qadaffy and his family.
It was not immediately clear why Medvedev signed the decree five months after Resolution 1973 was passed. |