Qatar to deploy aircraft to operations zone

ARAB REACTION:FOUR QATARI aircraft will soon move into the Libyan zone of operations, a French defence ministry spokesman said yesterday.

“As announced by the Qatari authorities, it will deploy four planes in the zone to be able to take part in the operations, which is another sign of Arab participation in this international operation to protect civilians,” Laurent Teisseire told reporters.

A second official said the Qatari warplanes should arrive soon, although he did not say where they would operate from.

French air forces would work closely with the Qataris, Mr Teisseire added.

Earlier, Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa criticised Western air strikes on Libya for causing civilian deaths and called for an emergency meeting of the league to discuss the situation in that country and the Arab world.

At a gathering on March 12th, Arab foreign ministers backed immediate mounting of a “humanitarian” no-fly zone to prevent Muammar Gadafy’s air force from bombing areas held by rebels.

League support enabled the UN Security Council to secure enough votes to pass its resolution.

However, Mr Moussa said council authorisation of “all necessary measures” to protect civilians went beyond the scope of military action envisaged by the league.

“What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone,” he added. “What we want is the protection of civilians, not the bombardment of more civilians.”

The authorities in Tripoli say 48 people were killed in initial attacks on air-defence sites.

Mr Moussa adopted a negative stand although he took part in Saturday’s Paris summit which discussed implementation of the resolution.

The meeting was also attended by the foreign ministers of Morocco, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, and the prime minister of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, who said the emirate would deploy aircraft in the operation.

Jordanian foreign minister Nasser Judeh said: “Some countries announced the nature of their participation in implementing . . . the no-fly zone. Jordan was not one of them. Our position departs from the international legitimacy and the resolutions of the Arab League.”

He said that during the summit, the Arabs “reasserted the importance of respecting the territorial integrity of Libya”.

Iraqi minister of state Ali Dabbagh said “Iraq will not participate in any military operations in Libya”. However, he added: “We support actions carried out under United Nations resolutions to stop the violence against the Libyan people.” His statement would appear to reflect the Arab attitude towards intervention in Libya.

Neither of Libya’s neighbours, Egypt and Tunisia, recently freed from autocratic rulers, said they would participate in the operation.

However, it received support from an unexpected quarter. A spokesman for Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, under indictment by the international criminal court for war crimes in Darfur, said: “What the international community is doing in Libya now is a positive thing in terms of protecting . . . civilians.”