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http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...itary-action-by-u-s-allies-against-libya.html
(Updates 11th paragraph with Obama telephone call to British, French leaders. For more news on Mideast turmoil, see EXTRA and MET.)
March 18 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations Security Council authorized a no-fly zone and other military action to prevent Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi from making good on his threat to conquer the rebel capital, Benghazi, and “destroy” the opposition movement.
The council provided the legal basis for the U.S., France, the U.K. and several Arab nations to intervene in the Libyan conflict to avert a feared bloodbath if Qaddafi defeats the opposition. The embattled Libyan dictator said yesterday he would show “no mercy” to “traitors” who do not surrender.
The UN vote drew cheers and celebratory gunfire from hundreds of anti-Qaddafi Libyans gathered in Benghazi.
“We have very little time left,” French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told the Security Council before the vote. “Every day, every hour we see the closing of the clamp on the civilian population. We should not arrive too late.”
The latest violence in Libya, as well as turmoil in Bahrain and elsewhere in the region, rattled oil markets. Crude oil climbed the most in three weeks on concern that will spread, reducing shipments.
After the vote, Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaaim said at a press conference in Tripoli the regime is ready to negotiate a cease-fire, according to Agence France Presse.
‘Decisive Hour’
Earlier in the day, Libyan jets dropped bombs on the outskirts of Benghazi. Qaddafi went on state television to say the “decisive hour” had arrived for his forces to take Benghazi, a coastal city of a million.
His ability to quickly make good on the threat was unclear, since fighting continued around Ajdabiya, about 100 miles south of Benghazi, where Qaddafi’s forces are facing rebel holdouts.
The U.S. and other nations have said little publicly about what military action they are prepared to take. Senators received a classified briefing yesterday on the administration’s plans.
A spokesman for President Barack Obama, Tommy Vietor, said the president would make no immediate public comments. Enforcing the UN resolution would involve the U.S. militarily in a third Muslim country after declaring that Qaddafi needed to give up power after four decades.
Obama, Sarkozy, Cameron
Obama called French President Nicolas Sarkozy and U.S. Prime Minister David Cameron last night to discuss implementing the UN resolution, the White House said in a statement. The three agreed to work closely with Arab and other international partners on enforcing the terms of the resolution and called for an end to the violence against civilians in Libya, the White House said.
The Obama administration had been wary of a no-fly zone, saying that action would involve bombing Libyan air defense sites to safeguard American and allied warplanes and would not be enough to stop Qaddafi’s offensive. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday in Tunisia that military options being considered include deploying drones and arming rebel.
U.S. senators who have been advocating military action -- Republican John McCain of Arizona, Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts, and Connecticut independent Joe Lieberman -- applauded the administration’s success in winning support for a broad UN military authorization and called the action “an important step on behalf of the people of Libya.”
(Updates 11th paragraph with Obama telephone call to British, French leaders. For more news on Mideast turmoil, see EXTRA and MET.)
March 18 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations Security Council authorized a no-fly zone and other military action to prevent Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi from making good on his threat to conquer the rebel capital, Benghazi, and “destroy” the opposition movement.
The council provided the legal basis for the U.S., France, the U.K. and several Arab nations to intervene in the Libyan conflict to avert a feared bloodbath if Qaddafi defeats the opposition. The embattled Libyan dictator said yesterday he would show “no mercy” to “traitors” who do not surrender.
The UN vote drew cheers and celebratory gunfire from hundreds of anti-Qaddafi Libyans gathered in Benghazi.
“We have very little time left,” French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told the Security Council before the vote. “Every day, every hour we see the closing of the clamp on the civilian population. We should not arrive too late.”
The latest violence in Libya, as well as turmoil in Bahrain and elsewhere in the region, rattled oil markets. Crude oil climbed the most in three weeks on concern that will spread, reducing shipments.
After the vote, Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaaim said at a press conference in Tripoli the regime is ready to negotiate a cease-fire, according to Agence France Presse.
‘Decisive Hour’
Earlier in the day, Libyan jets dropped bombs on the outskirts of Benghazi. Qaddafi went on state television to say the “decisive hour” had arrived for his forces to take Benghazi, a coastal city of a million.
His ability to quickly make good on the threat was unclear, since fighting continued around Ajdabiya, about 100 miles south of Benghazi, where Qaddafi’s forces are facing rebel holdouts.
The U.S. and other nations have said little publicly about what military action they are prepared to take. Senators received a classified briefing yesterday on the administration’s plans.
A spokesman for President Barack Obama, Tommy Vietor, said the president would make no immediate public comments. Enforcing the UN resolution would involve the U.S. militarily in a third Muslim country after declaring that Qaddafi needed to give up power after four decades.
Obama, Sarkozy, Cameron
Obama called French President Nicolas Sarkozy and U.S. Prime Minister David Cameron last night to discuss implementing the UN resolution, the White House said in a statement. The three agreed to work closely with Arab and other international partners on enforcing the terms of the resolution and called for an end to the violence against civilians in Libya, the White House said.
The Obama administration had been wary of a no-fly zone, saying that action would involve bombing Libyan air defense sites to safeguard American and allied warplanes and would not be enough to stop Qaddafi’s offensive. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday in Tunisia that military options being considered include deploying drones and arming rebel.
U.S. senators who have been advocating military action -- Republican John McCain of Arizona, Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts, and Connecticut independent Joe Lieberman -- applauded the administration’s success in winning support for a broad UN military authorization and called the action “an important step on behalf of the people of Libya.”