A senior Turkish official says Ankara has set up a range of surgical programs to treat hundreds of people wounded in the turmoil in Libya.
Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek
In an interview with Hurriyet newspaper on Saturday, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek said a ship will set sail to the North African country to aid some 450 people injured in Libya’s violence and bring them to Turkey.
“Turkey is the only country to maintain contact with both sides… We will bring the wounded. There is a deal on that,” he said.
Cicek added that the operation has been given blessing from the regime of embattled 68-year-old Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The remarks come as Turkey has ruled out part in US-led airstrikes against Libya and laid emphasis on the need for humanitarian aid efforts.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says some 351,600 people have fled Libya for fear of violence and around 1,500 to 2,000 are making their way to Egypt each day.
According to US military officials, more than 350 aircraft are participating in the US-led campaign of military airstrikes against Libya.
Apart from the United States, twelve countries are taking part in Operation Odyssey Dawn, which began on March 19 after the UN Security Council imposed a no-fly zone over Libya to “protect civilians” from Gaddafi’s attacks.
The rising civilian death toll in Libya has set off a frenzy of speculations about the real motive behind the war in the oil-rich country, with many analysts saying that under the guise of protecting civilians, as enshrined in the UN Security Council resolution 1973, Washington and its Western allies are basically after the North African country’s vast oil reserves.
Foreign minister says command of military operations in Libya will be transferred from US to NATO within a day or two.
”]Command of military operations in Libya will be transferred from the US to NATO within a day or two, Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister, has announced.
Turkey had helped to implement a naval blockade of Libya, but had earlier expressed concern about the alliance taking over operational command of the UN-backed no-fly zone from the US.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Davutoglu said: “Compromise has been reached in principle in a very short time. “The operation will be handed over to NATO completely.”
Davutoglu said this would happen as soon as possible, within one or two days.
He said agreement had been reached in a teleconference with his counterparts from the US, France and Britain.
NATO will take command of the international coalition’s military operations in Libya on Monday or Tuesday, a
diplomat told the AFP news agency on Thursday.
“NATO countries are in agreement to launch final planning enabling it to take over the command from the coalition Monday or Tuesday,” said the diplomat, who asked not to be named.
The US had been keen to hand over operational control to the military alliance as soon as possible.
Davutoglu’s announcement followed a fouth days of talks over the issue at a NATO summit in Brussels.
All 28 members of NATO needed to back any agreement and Turkey had previously rejected backing any plan unless it was given assurances that the operation would be limited to protecting civilians, enforcing an arms embargo and a no-fly zone, and providing humanitarian aid.
US admiral James Stavridis, NATO’s overall commander, was in Turkey on Thursday to convince leaders there to back the agreement on the alliance’s role.
Critical voices
The need to forge a consensus on Libya that involved Turkey and retained Arab support had becomes more critical each day, after NATO talks began on Monday.
Along with Turkey, Germany had also proved to be an obstacle to any agreement, abstaining from the UN Security Council vote that initially approved the no-fly zone, and reportedly refusing to help enforce the international arms embargo on Libya on Wednesday.
China, India and Russia, which all abstained from the Security Council vote, have repeatedly criticised the military action, and remaining in the lead role had exposed the US to their disapproval.
China’s foreign ministry reiterated its call for a ceasefire on Thursday, warning that the conflict could escalate and “worsen the situation region-wide”.
“We believe that the objective of enforcing the UN Security Council resolution is to protect humanitarian [objectives] and not to create an even bigger humanitarian disaster,” spokesman Jiang Yu said.
The three nations, as well as South Africa and Brazil, are expected to raise their concerns at a Security Council meeting on Thursday, where Ban will deliver a briefing on the operation.
Jacob Zuma, the South African president, said his country “rejected any foreign intervention, whatever its form”.
Thought some observers thought South Africa would abstain at the Security Council last week, it voted in favour of resolution 1973.
In an interview on Thursday, Ban rejected concerns that the operation would stall or reach a quagmire.
“I think this is different than other situations,” he said. “I believe that the international coalition will have a successful operation.”
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
via Turkey backs NATO command of Libya operations – Africa – Al Jazeera English.
Statements of support for Libya’s revolution by al-Qaeda and leading Islamists have led to fears that military action by the West might be playing into the hands of its ideological enemies.
A Libyan rebel grimaces on the frontline near Sultan, south of Benghazi Photo: AP
By Richard Spencer, Tripoli
WikiLeaks cables, independent analysts and reporters have all identified supporters of Islamist causes among the opposition to Col Gaddafi’s regime, particularly in the towns of Benghazi and Dernah.
An al-Qaeda leader of Libyan origin, Abu Yahya al-Libi, released a statement backing the insurrection a week ago, while Yusuf Qaradawi, the Qatar-based, Muslim Brotherhood-linked theologian issued a fatwa authorising Col Gaddafi’s military entourage to assassinate him.
But they also agree that the leading roles in the revolution are played by a similar cross-section of society as that in Egypt next door – liberals, nationalists, those with personal experience of regime brutality and Islamists who subscribe to democratic principles.
The WikiLeaks cables, initially revealed by The Daily Telegraph and dating from 2008, identified Dernah in particular as a breeding ground for fighters in a number of causes, including Afghanistan and Iraq.
“The unemployed, disfranchised young men of eastern Libya have nothing to lose and are therefore willing to sacrifice themselves for something greater than themselves by engaging in extremism in the name of religion,” the cables quoted a Dernah businessman as saying.
Col Gaddafi has pinpointed the rebels in Dernah as being led by an al-Qaeda cell that has declared the town an Islamic emirate. The regime also casts blame on hundreds of members of the Libyan Islamist Fighting Group released since the group renounced violence two years ago.
Although said by the regime to be affiliated to al-Qaeda, most LIFG members have focused only on promoting sharia law in Libya, rejecting a worldwide “jihad”.
The man running Dernah’s defences, Abdelkarim al-Hasadi, was arrested by US forces in Afghanistan in 2002, but says he does not support a Taliban-like state.
The rebels’ political leadership there says it is secular.
The same goes for the wider leadership, whose membership claims to espouse largely liberal ideals.
In any future negotiations – should it come to dialogue or even victory – rebel spokesmen are likely to be politicians who were until recently senior figures in the regime itself.
The head of the opposition National Council, Mustafa Abdul Jalil was Col Gaddafi’s justice minister until he defected at the start of the uprising.
That may not be as bad as it sounds – he was a law professor appointed to improve Libya’s human rights record by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi when the colonel’s son was leading Libya’s westernisation drive, and had already clashed with longer-standing regime insiders.
The military chief, though, is Abdul Fattah Younis al-Obeidi, a former leader of Col Gaddafi’s special forces who was his public security, or interior, minister until he went over to the rebels.
He has described Col Gaddafi as “not completely sane”, and worked with the SAS during the now curtailed thaw in British-Libyan relations. But it is still ironic that the West is taking sides in a battle between the leader of a much hated regime and his former effective deputy.
NATO ministers have ended a third day of talks over the crisis in Libya without agreement on whether the alliance will assume command of military operations aimed at protecting civilians from forces loyal to leader Muammar Qaddafi.
A Canadian CF-18A fighter prepares to land at the Birgi NATO Airbase in Trapani on the southern island of Sicily.
Coalition operations are in their fifth day of UN-backed air strikes in the North African state, where opposition forces are battling government troops in an effort to oust Qaddafi after four decades of rule.
Allied warplanes bombed air defenses near Tripoli and a loyalist compound outside the besieged rebel city of Misrata, forcing government troops to withdraw tanks from there.
The commander of British aircraft operating over Libya, Air Vice-Marshal Greg Bagwell, said today that Qaddafi’s air force “no longer exists as a fighting force,” and that the allies could now operate “with near impunity” in Libyan airspace.
In Brussels, spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said NATO allies would continue to debate the alliance’s possible role in the enforcement of the UN-mandated no-fly zone over Libya.
Canadian Brigadier General Pierre Saint Amand (left) and NATO spokewoman Oana Lungescu brief the media in Brussels on March 23.
“What you are seeing now is all 28 allies discussing [the operation in Libya] in a constructive spirit,” she said. “They’ve already moved to take the first step in implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 and I think that it is important that NATO is united and NATO is taking action.”
The resolution adopted a week ago allows for “all necessary measures” to protect the Libyan people from Qaddafi’s security forces.
Turkish Opposition
NATO diplomats who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity after the meeting said the main obstacle to agreement was Turkish opposition.
Turkey said it objected to NATO taking responsibility for offensive operations that could cause civilian casualties, as well as to the alliance enforcing the UN-mandated no-fly zone while coalition aircraft simultaneously bomb Libyan forces.
Speaking in Ankara, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, “It would be impossible for us to share responsibility in an operation that some authorities have described as a ‘crusade’” — an apparent reference to the use of that term by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Qaddafi himself.
A NATO source who spoke to the Associated Press said Turkey, a Muslim NATO member with major commercial interests in Libya, wanted Western coalition countries to finish their air strikes before NATO assumes command.
But U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on March 22 that he could not predict when the no-fly zone operation would end, but said the United States wanted to hand over lead command of the operation as early as March 26.
President Barack Obama reinforced that message on March 22 during a stopover in El Salvador on the last leg of his Latin American trip. He said he had “absolutely no doubt” that control could be shifted from the United States to other coalition members within days.
Obama said the United States would remain in a “support role” and provide uniquely U.S. assets, such as radar jamming and intelligence capabilities.
Obama: “We have unique capabilities.”
“We have unique capabilities,” Obama said. “We came in up front fairly heavily, fairly substantially, and at considerable risk to our military personnel and when this transition takes place it is not going to be our planes maintaining the no fly zone.”
Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and British Prime Minister David Cameron agreed on on March 22 that NATO should play an important role in enforcing the Libyan no-fly zone.
But NATO’s lack of agreement over whether it will assume lead command of the mission adds an element of uncertainty to the White House’s plans to step back from operations.
Progress Seen
Nevertheless, in a joint press appearance today at the State Department with Morocco’s visiting Foreign Minister Taeib Fassi, Clinton said the United States “will continue to support this mission as [it] transfer[s] command and control to NATO.”
Clinton also said the United States had been satisfied with the amount of participation by Arab counties and expected “more announcements” of help in the coming days.
And she said the coalition had “made significant progress” in the first five days of the operation, but added that as long as “Qaddafi is “[directing] his forces to attack his own people’ the need for military intervention will continue.
“It will be up to Qaddafi and his ‘insiders’ to determine what their next steps are but we would certainly encourage that they would make the right decision,” Clinton said, “and not only institute a real, comprehensive cease-fire, but withdraw from the cities and the military actions and prepare for a transition that does not include Colonel Qaddafi.”
Earlier today, NATO warships have begun patrolling off Libya’s coast to enforce a UN-mandated arms embargo.
Canadian Brigadier General Pierre St. Amand of NATO’s military staff told a media briefing today that NATO had received offers for up to 16 vessels to patrol the Mediterranean.
He said Turkey alone had offered five ships and one submarine to join the operation, dubbed Unified Protector, which he said was now “under way.”
Other members offering vessels included Britain, Canada, Greece, Italy, Romania, Spain, and the United States.
Alliance spokeswoman Lungescu said naval operation Unified Protector was important to stop the “flow of arms and mercenaries” into Libya that intelligence reports say is continuing.
Under Attack From ‘Fascists’
As discussions were going on who should take the leading role in the Libya mission, Qaddafi remained defiant.
Addressing a crowd of supporters at his compound in Tripoli on March 22, the Libyan leader said his people were under attack from “fascists” and called on other Muslim countries to “take part in the battle against the crusaders.”
“It’s a new crusade, a crusade against Islam! Long live Islam everywhere! All Islamic armies, take part in the battle!” Qaddafi said.
Muammar Qaddafi addresses supporters at his former Bab al-Aziziya residence in Tripoli.
“Demonstrations are taking place everywhere, in Asia, in Africa, in America, in Europe! Their people are against them! Their people are against them!”
Western warplanes have flown more than 300 sorties over Libya and more than 160 cruise missiles have been fired in the UN-mandated mission.
The strikes have managed to ground Qaddafi’s aircraft and to push back his forces from the brink of rebel stronghold Benghazi, but disorganized and poorly equipped rebels have been unable to dislodge Qaddafi’s forces from the key junction of Ajdabiyah in the east.
As air strikes entered their fifth day, correspondents reported explosions rocked the capital early today.
Reports say warplanes silenced Qaddafi’s artillery and tanks around the last big rebel holdout of Misrata in the west, where residents say the siege is becoming increasingly desperate, with water cut off for days and food running out, and many of the wounded left untreated.
Clashes also were reported today near the rebel-held Zintan near the border with Tunisia, and in the town of Yafran, southwest of Tripoli.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul has warned the coalition forces taking action in Libya against pursuing any hidden agenda.
Several Nato states are involved in the air strikes
Without naming any states, he said it was “obvious” that some coalition members perceived the conflict as an opportunity for themselves.
He also urged Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to resign.
Scepticism about the coalition’s aims has also been voiced at a session of the Russian parliament.
Turkey, Nato’s only predominantly Muslim member and a key player in the Middle East, offered on Wednesday to send five ships and a submarine to join a naval operation to enforce an arms embargo off Libya.
However, the country has publicly questioned the wisdom of coalition air strikes.
“We saw in the past such [military] operations increasing the loss of lives,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, pledging that his country would “never point guns at the Libyan people”.
On Wednesday, Mr Gul told reporters: “The issue is essentially about people’s freedom and ending oppression… but unfortunately it is obvious that some countries are driven by opportunism.
“Some who until yesterday were closest to the dictators and sought to take advantage of them… display an excessive behaviour today and raise suspicions of secret intentions.”
The military operation has involved France, the US, the UK, Italy, Spain, Denmark and Canada.
In Moscow, the head of the State Duma’s international affairs committee, Konstantin Kosachev, told journalists that neither the actions of Mr Gaddafi against his own people nor the coalition force’s military operation were acceptable to Russia.
“The actions of a so-called anti-Libyan coalition to ‘restore order’ in this country, which are beyond the scope of the actions sanctioned by the corresponding UN Security Council’s resolution [on Libya], are not acceptable either,” he added.
Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told the Duma that Russia had opposed possible military intervention in Libya from the outset.
Russia did not veto the UN Security Council resolution because it was governed by the principle that the civilian population must be protected, he explained.
via BBC News – Turkey warns against coalition ‘hidden agenda’ on Libya.
Turkey calls for an alliance-led campaign to limit operations while France seeks a broader ‘coalition of the willing’
A French pilot aboard a Mirage jet fighter in Corsica prior to taking off for a mission to Libya. Photograph: Anthony Jeuland/AP
A flotilla of warships has begun patrolling the Mediterranean under Nato command to block attempts by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to replenish his combat forces with arms and mercenaries.
But the attempt at a Nato show of unity in policing a UN arms embargo was undermined by a third day of squabbling at alliance headquarters in Brussels over who should be in charge of the air campaign.
Amid arguments over the scope and command of the air campaign against Tripoli, Turkey both blocked Nato planning on the no-fly zone and insisted that Nato be put in control of it, in order to be granted a veto over its operations, senior Nato officials said.
“Turkey blocked further planning while the coalition [of the willing] continues,” said a senior official. Ankara wants the broad coalition involved in the air campaign to cede control to Nato in order to limit its operations, the official added.
The Turks specifically called for a halt to air attacks on ground targets in Libya and signalled that agreement on this would be the price of their assent.
Germany, meanwhile, Europe’s biggest opponent of the Libya campaign, promptly pulled its Mediterranean naval forces out of Nato’s command.
The Turkish position put Ankara at odds with France, which has successfully thwarted strong US and British pressure to put Nato at the political helm of the air campaign overseeing the UN-decreed no-fly zone over Libya. Paris insisted that the governments of the “coalition of the willing” taking part in the strikes against Gaddafi’s military infrastructure would lead and make the decisions.
“It is important to make clear that the leadership is not Nato,” said Alain Juppé, the French foreign minister. “We see this as a UN operation under a UN mandate. It is implemented by a coalition of European, North American and Arab countries.”
Nato’s policy-making North Atlantic Council, grouping ambassadors of the 28 member states, met in Brussels for a third day to try to hammer out a facesaving deal amid frantic transatlantic diplomacy.
“We’ve not yet decided to go for a no-fly zone,” said a Nato official. “We’ve moved on from planning. That’s complete. But now the allies have to decide what decisions to take in terms of next steps.”
“Nato is ready to act if and when required,” said Oana Lungescu, the alliance spokeswoman. “These are difficult discussions on very difficult issues.”
Diplomats were optimistic that a deal would eventually be struck giving Nato military planners power to mastermind the operational side of the air campaign, while the strategic and political decision-taking on the aims and direction of the military effort would rest with what Paris called a “contact group” of participating governments. Officials from the countries involved are to meet in London next week.
“A wide and inclusive range of countries will be invited, particularly from the region. It is critical that the international community continues to take united and co-ordinated action in response to the unfolding crisis. The meeting will form a contact group of nations to take forward this work,” William Hague, the foreign secretary, said.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy, repeatedly accused of seeking to hijack the Libya operations for personal political reasons, maintains that handing political leadership of the campaign to the Nato alliance would alienate the Arab world.
Despite a green light from the Arab League for the UN decision on the no-fly zone, David Cameron admitted to MPs that Arab engagement in the anti-Gaddafi effort had been less than had been hoped.
“I can confirm that yesterday the Qataris deployed the first of their contribution – Mirage aircraft and other support aircraft – and we will get logistic contributions from countries such as Kuwait and Jordan,” he said. “I hope that further support will be forthcoming but I would like to be clear that because we had to act so quickly on Saturday it was not possible to bring forward as much Arab support as might have been welcomed.”
Since France carried out the first air strikes against Libya at the weekend, the US has been commanding the operations, in consultation mainly with the French and the British. President Barack Obama has made it repeatedly clear, however, that his interest in taking the lead is very short-term and that the best option would be for Nato to take over – a position strongly supported by Cameron but opposed by Sarkozy and also, for different reasons, by Germany and Turkey.
The US and British governments, following telephone diplomacy between Obama, Cameron, and Sarkozy late on Tuesday, are stressing that Nato is to be given “a key role” in the air campaign, signalling a partial climbdown away from granting the alliance the lead role.
Senior European diplomats argue that there is “no crisis of leadership” yet over the prosecution of the Libyan war effort. But the US impatience to surrender its lead role is exposing big divisions among the Europeans.
While Cameron and Sarkozy are the west’s leading hawks in the war effort against Gaddafi, they are seriously split over who should run things.
A European summit dinner on Thursday tonight in Brussels is to focus on Libya, with the British and French leaders expected to face a grilling from European sceptics, led by Germany, over the strategy, aims, and future course of the military effort.
via Libya no-fly zone leadership squabbles continue within Nato | World news | The Guardian.
