UK and US hail Arab League call for Libya no-fly zone

THE US and UK have expressed approval of the Arab League’s urgent call for a “humanitarian based” no-fly zone over Libya, as forces loyal to Col Muammar Gadafy continued their drive eastward toward the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

The league’s resolution urged the UN Security Council “to meet its responsibilities regarding the deterioration of the situation in Libya and to take all necessary measures to immediately impose a no-fly zone on the movement of Libyan military flights”.

Speaking for the Benghazi rebel movement, Abdel Aziz Goga welcomed the league’s decision, which boosted morale as ragtag rebel fighters were compelled to withdraw from the strategic city of Brega.

League secretary general Amr Moussa voiced Arab frustration with the western refusal to take action against the Gadafy regime when he remarked that he did not know “how or who [would] impose this zone”.

He also reflected Arab sensitivity over foreign military intervention in Libya by stating this effort would have to be halted as soon as the conflict was resolved.

Washington called the league’s resolution an “important step”, without committing to US participation in mounting an aerial exclusion zone for the fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters deployed to considerable effect by the regime against the rebels.

UK foreign secretary William Hague observed: “We’ve said all along that one of the conditions for a no-fly zone must be broad support in the region.”

However, he hesitated to commit assets to such a mission when he called for “even broader international support” and a legal determination from the security council, where China and Russia, permanent members with vetoes, are unlikely to approve.

While Britain and France back a no-fly zone, the EU as a whole has refused to support such action.

Oman’s foreign minister and chairman of the closed Arab League session, Youssef bin Alawi bin Abdullah, said the decision was unanimous, although Syria and Algeria reportedly abstained.

Nevertheless, the firm decision was unprecedented for the notoriously indecisive league, which seems to have responded to popular pressure to act.

During the five-hour meeting of foreign ministers at league headquarters on the edge of Cairo’s Tahrir Square, demonstrators chanted: “Action, action! We want action, not words”.

League official Hesham Youssef said: “The influence of [Arab] public opinion is now becoming very marked in the positions and policies adopted by the Arab League.”

Before the session, Mr Moussa met representatives of the rebels asking for recognition of the Benghazi transitional council. Col Gadafy’s representatives were excluded from the session.

Impatience over the inaction of western powers may have prompted Egypt to provide the rebels with military aid.

About 100 commandos from unit 777 – which has had French, German and US trainers – are said to be providing assistance to the rebels.

The US security consultancy Stratfor revealed that the commandos “have played a key role in quietly providing weaponry and training to Libyan opposition forces while trying to organise a political command in the east”.

A journalist in Benghazi dismissed the report.