U.N. okays military action on Libya

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U.N. okays military action on Libya

By Golovnina and Worsnip | Reuters – Thu, 17 Mar, 2011 10:09 PM

EDT

TRIPOLI/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations authorized military

strikes to curb Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, hours after he threatened to

storm the rebel bastion of Benghazi overnight, showing " no mercy, no pity. "

" We will come. House by house, room by room, " Gaddafi said in a radio address to

the eastern city late on Thursday.

Al Jazeera television showed thousands of people listening to the speech in a

central Benghazi square, then erupting in celebration after the U.N. vote,

waving anti-Gaddafi tricolors and chanting defiance of the man who has ruled for

four decades.

Fireworks burst over the city and gunfire rang out.

The U.N. Security Council, meeting in emergency session, passed a resolution

endorsing a no-fly zone to halt government troops now around 100 km (60 miles)

from Benghazi. It also authorized " all necessary measures " -- code for military

action -- to protect civilians against Gaddafi's forces.

But time was clearly running short for the city that has been the heart of

Libya's month-old revolution.

French diplomatic sources said military action could follow within hours, and

could include France, Britain and possibly the United States and one or more

Arab states; but a U.S. military official said no immediate U.S. action was

expected.

While other countries or NATO may play roles in military action, U.S. officials

expect the United States with its extensive air and sea forces would do the

heavy lifting in a campaign that may include airstrikes on tanks and artillery.

Gaddafi warned Benghazi residents that only those who lay down their arms before

his advancing troops would be spared the vengeance awaiting 'rats and dogs'.

" It's over. The issue has been decided, " Gaddafi said. " We are coming

tonight...We will find you in your closets.

" We will have no mercy and no pity. "

AIR STRIKES

Residents said the Libyan air force unleashed three air raids on the city of

670,000 on Thursday and there has been fierce fighting along the Mediterranean

coastal highway.

Ten of the Council's 15 member states voted in favor of the resolution, with

Russia, China and Germany among the five that abstained. There were no votes

against the resolution, which was co-sponsored by France, Britain, Lebanon and

the United States.

Apart from military action, it expands sanctions against Gaddafi and associates

imposed last month. Among firms whose assets it orders frozen are the Libyan

National Oil Corp and the central bank.

U.S. President Barack Obama called British and French counterparts Cameron

and Nicolas Sarkozy and agreed to coordinate closely on their next steps.

Libya said the resolution, which also demands a ceasefire by government forces,

was not worth the paper it was written on.

Rebel National Council head Mustafa Abdel Jalil told Al Jazeera television air

strikes, beyond the no-fly zone, were essential to stop Gaddafi.

" We stand on firm ground. We will not be intimidated by these lies and claims...

We will not settle for anything but liberation from this regime. "

It was unclear if Gaddafi's threat to seize the city in the night was anything

more than bluster. But at the very least it increased the sense that a decisive

moment had arrived in an uprising that only months ago had seemed inconceivable.

Some in the Arab world sense a Gaddafi victory could turn the tide in the

region, weakening pro-democracy movements that have unseated autocrats in

Tunisia and Egypt and raised mass protests in Bahrain, Yemen and elsewhere.

Gaddafi's Defense Ministry warned of swift retaliation, even beyond Libyan

frontiers, to any military action against the oil-exporting nation.

" 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 counter-attack, " the ministry said in a statement.

RETALIATION

Drake, senior risk consultant at UK-based consultancy AKE said he did not

think Gaddafi would strike against oil facilities or oil companies. " He would be

hurting himself. "

" We don't think they have the capability to impose a no-fly zone over the whole

country immediately, although they could try to impose one over Benghazi and

maybe also Tripoli, " he said.

Proposals for action could include no-fly and no-drive zones, a maritime

exclusion zone, jamming army communications and intelligence help. Air strikes

would almost certainly be launched to knock out Libyan radar and air defenses.

An Italian government source told Reuters Italy was ready to make its military

bases available. The airbase at Sigonella in Sicily, which provides logistical

support for the United States Sixth Fleet, is one of the closest NATO bases to

Libya.

Past no-fly zones have had mixed success.

The U.N. imposed a no-fly zone over Bosnia in the 1990s, although some analysts

say the measure did nothing to stop massacres such as the 1995 slaughter of more

than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the town of Srebrenica.

Former British foreign minister Owen saw the vote as reflecting a serious

division in NATO and the EU, with Germany abstaining and declaring that the

venture carried " considerable dangers and risks. "

" It's very late for this no-fly zone, " Owen said. " Gaddafi's forces are very

close to Benghazi and may now push on. "

The resolution followed a sharp shift in tone by the United States, which had

resisted calls to military action. Diplomats said Washington's change of mind

was influenced by an appeal to action by the Arab league and the prospect of a

Gaddafi government flush with oil wealth fomenting unrest in the region.

" Mission creep " poses a serious danger. Western powers, chastened by protracted

wars in two other Muslim countries, Afghanistan and Iraq, would be wary of

getting drawn into any ground action in Libya.

Rebels have retreated over the last two weeks as Gaddafi, dubbed the 'mad dog of

the Middle East' by president Reagan in 1986, has brought air power and

heavy armor to bear.

Residential areas of Ajdabiyah, a strategic town on the coast road to Benghazi,

were the scene of heavy fighting on Thursday and around 30 people were killed,

Al Arabiya reported.

On the approaches to Ajdabiyah, burned-out cars lay by the roadside while Libyan

government forces showed the foreign media artillery, tanks and mobile rocket

launchers -- much heavier weapons than those used by the rebels.

In Libya's third city, Misrata, about 200 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli, rebels

and residents said they were preparing for a new attack by Libyan troops, who

had shelled the coastal city overnight. A government spokesman said Gaddafi's

forces expected to be in control of Misrata by Friday morning.

(Additional reporting by a Reuters reporter in Benghazi, Georgy in

Tripoli, m Karouny and Tarek Amara in Tunisia, Louis Charbonneau and

Worsnip at the United Nations, Irish in Paris; Writing by Ralph

Boulton; Editing by Roddy)