Britain to send military advisers to Libyan rebels

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_libya

Britain to send military advisers to Libyan rebels

By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Karin Laub, Associated Press – Tue Apr 19, 5:41

pm ET

TRIPOLI, Libya – Britain is sending up to 20 military advisers to help Libya's

ragtag rebel force break a military stalemate with Moammar Gadhafi's army, even

as NATO acknowledges that airstrikes alone cannot stop the daily shelling of the

besieged opposition-held city of Misrata.

Gadhafi's troops have been pounding Misrata indiscriminately with mortars and

rockets, a NATO general said Tuesday, and residents reported more explosions and

firefights in Libya's third-largest city. Hospitals are overflowing and 120

patients need to be evacuated from the city that has been under siege for nearly

two months, the World Health Organization said.

The plight of Misrata's civilians and the battlefield deadlock are raising new

questions about the international community's strategy in Libya. The leaders of

the U.S., Britain and France have said Gadhafi must go, but seem unwilling to

commit to a more forceful military campaign. NATO's mandate is restricted to

protecting civilians.

Adm. Giampaolo Di Paola, chairman of NATO's military committee, said that even

though the military alliance's operations have done " quite significant damage "

to the Libyan regime's heavy weaponry, what Gadhafi has left is " still

considerable. "

Asked if more airpower is needed, Di Paola said any " significantly additional "

allied contribution would be welcome.

The rebels seized control of most of eastern Libya shortly after the uprising

began in February, while Gadhafi is entrenched in the west, but the front line

hasn't changed dramatically since then.

" I am very optimistic. We will win, " Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam, said on state

television, referring to the fighting.

" The balance changes every day in our favor, " he said in a joking but defiant

manner during a televised town hall meeting that lasted two hours.

Frustration over the stalemate has spurred talk in the West of new tactics,

including dispatching military personnel to Libya.

Britain took the lead Tuesday, saying it is sending up to 20 senior soldiers who

will help organize the rebels, many of whom have had little military training or

battle experience. However, British Foreign Secretary Hague said Britain

would not arm the opposition or assist in military operations.

Britain has already sent non-lethal support, including 1,000 sets of body armor

and 100 satellite phones.

" As the scale of the humanitarian crisis has grown, so has the urgency of

increasing our efforts to defend civilians against the attack from Gadhafi

forces, " Hague said.

Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said Britain's attempt to help the

rebels is futile.

" This is not in the interest of the U.K., " Kaim told The Associated Press. " This

is an impossible mission. To organize who? They (the rebels) are different

groups. There is no leader. They are not well-organized, and I am sure it will

be a failure. "

Allies would also consider supplying Libya's rebels with technical equipment

such as radars or systems to intercept and block telecommunications, said

Italian Foreign Minster Franco Frattini. He said this would be discussed at a

meeting next month of the international contact group on Libya.

" We have condemned the regime's violence, the presence of snipers on the

rooftops of Tripoli's houses and in the besieged cities, " Frattini said. " We

cannot say this isn't our problem. "

However, both Italy and France remain opposed to sending ground troops. French

Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Tuesday he is " totally hostile " to the idea.

Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, a rebel leader touring Europe in search of more logistical

support, said the Libyan opposition is not looking to other nations to remove

Gadhafi.

" We are not looking or inviting anybody to kill him, and we don't have such a

possibility, but we hope he and his regime can leave Libya as soon as possible, "

Abdul-Jalil said in Italy.

The European Union, meanwhile, said it is ready, in principle, to provide armed

escorts to secure U.N. aid convoys in Libya, but U.N. officials said they don't

need such guards for the time being. The proposal drew a warning from Kaim that

sending armed escorts would be tantamount to a military operation.

The U.N. Security Council resolution bans the use of foreign troops in Libya.

Russia — a veto-wielding member of the Council — already has complained that the

NATO action in bombing Libya's military has overstepped its mandate, and

therefore is unlikely to approve any further extension of the alliance's

operations.

In Misrata, an opposition bridgehead in western Libya, rebels have held out

despite daily rocket and artillery barrages, in part because they continue to

get supplies by sea. The rebels hold positions near the port, while Gadhafi's

forces control parts of Tripoli Street, a downtown thoroughfare.

NATO Brig. Gen. Mark van Uhm said his forces have destroyed more than 40 tanks

and several armored personnel carriers in Misrata. However, there's always

concern of inadvertently harming civilians in such airstrikes, he said.

" There is a limit to what can be achieved by airpower to stop fighting in a

city, " said van Uhm.

Fighting has been intense for the past 10 days and Gadhafi's forces have shelled

Misrata indiscriminately, he said. " The situation on the ground is fluid there,

with ground being won and lost by both sides, " van Uhm said at NATO headquarters

in Brussels.

Human rights activists have said at least 267 people have been killed in

Misrata, with the final toll likely higher, and many more people wounded.

Hospitals in Misrata have difficulties conducting surgeries because " the

capacity is overstretched and 120 patients need evacuation, " said WHO spokesman

Tariq Jasarevic

Supplies have so far reached Misrata by sea, including three ships that

delivered a total of some 1,500 tons of supplies such as medicine and food. Two

of the ships have evacuated nearly 2,000 people from Misrata, including migrant

workers and Libyans, among them wounded people.

UNICEF is sending a ship Wednesday with supplies for 15,000 to 25,000 people,

including first aid kits, drinking water and water purification tablets. Misrata

has about 300,000 people.

Over the weekend, the U.N. humanitarian chief said she was assured by Libyan

authorities that the U.N. would be permitted to visit Misrata and other towns to

assess the humanitarian need.

The World Food Program, a U.N. agency, said it has signed an agreement with the

Libyan Red Crescent to deliver aid in western Libya. " We received an indication

that the government did not have any objection, " said agency spokeswoman Emilia

Casella.

WFP trucks are already bringing food to feed 50,000 people for a month, Casella

said. The food will be distributed by the Libyan Red Crescent in Tripoli,

Zintan, Yefrin, Nalut, Mizda, Al Reiba and Zawiya.

___

Associated Press writers El Deeb in Cairo; Frances D'Emilio and Alessandra

Rizzo in Rome, Stringer in London and Slobodan Lekic in Brussels

contributed to this report.

[Guest guest]

This is how we got sucked into Vietnam, in part anyway. Again, the British are running out of smart bombs and are cutting military spending while trying to expand military operations. It interesting but the British ministers have been very hostile to the military post WWII. This probably won't end well.

In a message dated 4/20/2011 1:03:36 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, no_reply writes:

Britain is sending up to 20 military advisers to help Libya's ragtag rebel force break a military stalemate with Moammar Gadhafi's army, even as NATO acknowledges that airstrikes alone cannot stop the daily shelling of the besieged opposition-held city of Misrata.

[Guest guest]

This is how we got sucked into Vietnam, in part anyway. Again, the British are running out of smart bombs and are cutting military spending while trying to expand military operations. It interesting but the British ministers have been very hostile to the military post WWII. This probably won't end well.

In a message dated 4/20/2011 1:03:36 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, no_reply writes:

Britain is sending up to 20 military advisers to help Libya's ragtag rebel force break a military stalemate with Moammar Gadhafi's army, even as NATO acknowledges that airstrikes alone cannot stop the daily shelling of the besieged opposition-held city of Misrata.