Breaking News: The Usual Suspects; US, France Britian to bomb Gaddafi to save the people

[General Duke]

 

Libya crisis: Britain, France and US prepare for air strikes against GaddafiUN security council expected to pass resolution calling for states to protect Libyan civilians as Gaddafi threatens counterattack

 

 

Share933 Ewen MacAskill in Washington, Nicholas Watt, Ian Black in Tripoli, Ed Pilkington in New York and Luke Harding in Berlin guardian.co.uk, Thursday 17 March 2011 19.25 GMT Article history

Gaddafi loyalists in Libya. The Libyan defence ministry said it would target all air and maritime traffic in the Mediterranean in the event of foreign intervention. Photograph: Mohamed Messara/EPA

 

British, French and US military aircraft are preparing to defend the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi after Washington said it was ready to support a no-fly zone and air strikes against Muammar Gaddafi's forces.

 

Jets could take off from French military bases if a no-fly zone is approved in a fresh United Nations security council resolution authorising "all necessary measures short of an occupation force" to protect civilians.

 

France, which has led the calls for a no-fly zone along with Britain, has offered the use of military bases on its Mediterranean coast about 750 miles from the Libyan coast. Several Arab countries would join the operation.

 

The finalising of military preparations came as Gaddafi's forces closed in on Benghazi and warned that they would target all maritime traffic in the Mediterranean if they are targeted by foreign forces. In a statement broadcast on Libyan television, the defence ministry said: "Any foreign military act against Libya will expose all air and maritime traffic in the Mediterranean sea to danger and civilian and military [facilities] will become targets of Libya's counterattack."

 

"The Mediterranean basin will face danger not just in the short-term, but also in the long-term."

 

Gaddafi has warned Libyan rebels that his forces will invade Benghazi and show no mercy to fighters who resisted them. "No more fear, no more hesitation, the moment of truth has come," the Libyan leader declared, as he warned Benghazi residents that soldiers would search every house in the city and people who had no arms had no reason to fear.

 

"There will be no mercy. Our troops will be coming to Benghazi tonight."

 

Residents and a rebel spokesman reported three air strikes on the outskirts of the city on Thursday, including at the airport, and another air raid further south. There was also heavy fighting in residential areas of nearby Ajdabiya, where around 30 people were killed, the TV station al-Arabiya reported.

 

The increase in Libyan rhetoric came as diplomats intensified their negotiations over a fresh UN security council resolution, tabled by Britain, France and Lebanon, to authorise a no-fly zone. The three countries need the support of a further six further members of the security council – and to avoid vetoes from Russia and China – to pass the resolution.

 

A security council source said the resolution would impose a no-fly zone over Libya but that was no longer enough. "The resolution authorises air strikes against tank columns advancing on Benghazi or engaging naval ships bombarding Benghazi," he said.

 

A source at UN headquarters in New York said military forces could be in action soon after a security council resolution calling for states to protect civilians by halting attacks by Gaddafi's forces by air, land and sea. Nato would have to meet after the vote to review the military planning that has already been completed.

[General Duke]

Gaddafi loyalists in Libya. The Libyan defence ministry said it would target all air and maritime traffic in the Mediterranean in the event of foreign intervention. Photograph: Mohamed Messara/EPA

[nuune]

Watch here the LIVE voting of the Security Council on Libya invasion

[Somalina]

The Security Council has not got the right to interfere in the internal affairs of any state. It would be a flagrant colonisation, without any justification. A serious and grave [inaudible]. This is craziness, madness, arrogance. If the world gets crazy with us, we will get crazy too..."

Gaddafi

[Jacaylbaro]

This is craziness, madness, arrogance

Looks like he is talking about himself ..........

[General Duke]

^^^ Another Muslim nation bites the dust..

[General Duke]

As predicted,

UN council passes air strikes resolution

Live • US and Britain support air strikes to protect civilians from Gaddafi

• Gaddafi declares: 'There will be no mercy' in Benghazi

[nuune]

10 votes to invade Libya, Russia and China afraid of the US, they abstained from voting.

 

Approved to invade yet another Muslim country

[General Duke]

^^^Its going to be bloody. Everyone has underestimated Gaddafi. He has survived more than Bin Ali and Mubarak. Lets see if he can outdo Sadam Hussain.

[General Duke]

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has voted on a resolution authorising a no-fly zone over Libya and "all necessary measures" - code for military action - to protect citizens.

 

Ten of the council's 15 members voted in favour of the resolution, with Russia, China and Germany the five that abstained.

 

No votes were recorded against the resolution, which was co-sponsored by France, Britain, Lebanon and the United States.

 

The resolution fulfills a long-standing demand from pro-democracy opposition forces in Libya asking for a no-fly zone to be established in order to prevent Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, from using fighter jets to bombard their positions, as they have been doing.

 

It comes just a few hours after Gaddafi warned residents of Benghazi, an opposition stronghold, that his forces would show "no mercy" in an impending assault on the city.

 

The draft of the resolution was prepared by the United Kingdom, France and Lebanon, and in the hours ahead of the meeting the United States appeared to have changed its stance on the issue by actively backing calls for not just a no-fly zone, but also strikes against Libyan military targets that could be mobilised against civilians.

 

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, said there was not much time left for the international community to act.

 

"France is very much involved in this action and has prepared the draft resolution. We have one goal… we want to stop the attacks by the Gaddafi regime against civilian populations.

 

"And it's a question of days or hours because the pressure against Benghazi, especially, is now very tough."

 

The Libyan defence ministry on Thursday, before the vote, warned that any military intervention in Libya would endanger air and sea traffic in the Mediterranean Sea.

[Ismahaan]

waa u dhamaatey libya!!!!!!!!!!!

[nuune]

Interesting debate on Libyan Jamaahiriya TV, click here

 

 

lool the panel on Libya tv waxee jarjareen si xun lebanon

[LayZie G.]

nuune;702921 wrote:

Approved to invade yet another

Muslim

country

oh, the horror, iqabo, oo imadadaadi, teeda kale, waaw, waaw invasion imaqashii oo ii waali, waaw, waaw.

 

What if Saudia Arabia, instead of the United States, France would take upon themselves to shoot down all fire jets and maybe even shell the crazy man's camp-ground, that would have made all the difference in the world, soo maaha??? I think so@nuune and co.

[nuune]

^^ Oh dear Lyzie-Gaal, according to you, the Western military planes hovering the airspace of another sovereign country is not an invasion.

[Mad_Mullah]

This is from Allah, tunisia, egypt, yemen, Bahrain, big chances all over the Muslim world, earthquakes etc.