Britain commits £1bn – and

artappraiser — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 04:40:13 +0000

In reply to NATO Strikes Qaddafi Compound

Britain commits £1bn – and time – to end Gaddafi's attacks in Libya
Defence secretary Liam Fox says there is no time limit to Nato operations against Muammar Gaddafi
By Richard Norton Taylor, Guardian.co.uk, April 27, 2011

Britain's military commitment to help Libyan rebels get rid of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is open-ended and the cost, estimated to top £1bn by the summer, will come out of special Treasury funds, the defence secretary, Liam Fox, said on Wednesday.

He believed operations against Gaddafi's forces were sustainable, denied there was a stalemate, and claimed there was the political will to carry them through. "Our resolve will not waver," he told MPs on the cross-party Commons defence committee....

U.S. gives limited support to rebel government in Libya
The U.S. will encourage other nations to line up behind the Transitional National Council, but continues to wrestle with whether it should extend recognition to the Libyan group.
By Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times, April 28, 2011

Reporting from Washington—
The Obama administration gave an official blessing to the chief Libyan opposition group Wednesday, opening the way for closer ties but not necessarily recognition as the country's legitimate government.

Gene Cretz, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, said that a U.S. diplomat sent to Libya to assess the opposition group, the Transitional National Council, had concluded that "it is a political body which is worthy of our support."

....Cretz said at a State Department briefing for reporters Wednesday that, because of the new assessment, the United States would encourage other countries to officially recognize the council and to offer it more aid.

France, Italy and Qatar have already recognized the group, rather than the regime led by Moammar Kadafi, as Libya's legitimate government.

But Cretz said the administration continues to wrestle with whether it should extend recognition to the council.

He said the issue involved a number of complicated legal questions....

NATO Strike Kills 12 Libyan Rebels in Misurata
By C. J. Chivers, New York Times, April 27/28, 2011

MISURATA, Libya — At least one NATO warplane attacked a rebel position on the front lines of this besieged city on Wednesday, a rebel commander said, killing 12 fighters and wounding five others in what he called an accident that could have been avoided.

The rebels were at first reluctant to admit the killings had occurred, saying they did not want to discourage further airstrikes against the forces of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, which have been shelling Misurata and pounding it with ground-to-ground rocket fire. The pace of NATO strikes had picked up noticeably in recent days, after rebel leaders complained of a lack of support since the United States turned over operational control of the air campaign to NATO at the end of March.

But as the bodies of the fighters who had been killed were being collected at a medical clinic in the Qasr Ahmed neighborhood, a grieving rebel commander, Abdullah Mohammed, provided an account of the errant strikes....

Gaddafi arms Libyan 'home guard' – minimum age 17
Regime in Libya trains civilians in use of AK-47s in attempt to build resistance to Nato and eastern rebels
By Harriet Sherwood in Sbia, Guardian.co.uk, April 27, 2011

Muammar Gaddafi is arming Libyan 17-year-olds to build a "home front" against Nato military intervention and the possibility of rebels from the east of the country reaching largely loyalist towns and cities in the west.

As part of the drive towards an unofficial civilian army, the government is releasing thousands of AK-47 assault rifles into communities and is organising classes in the use of weapons.

At a women's training centre in the town of Sbia, 30 miles south of Tripoli, young women crowded round....

Danish F-16 jets bomb Libyan ammunition dumps
Xinhua, April 27, 2008

COPENHAGEN, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Danish F-16 fighters attacked ammunition dumps in Libya while an accident at the fighters' forward operating base in Sigonella, Sicily of Italy, led to them being diverted to Trapani, also in Sicily, said Denmark's Air Force on Wednesday.

In a statement, the Air Force said Danish F-16s have carried out three missions in areas south of the Libyan capital Tripoli....

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