International military intervention to end civil war in Libya
Posted on March 18th, 2011
A military intervention in Libya seems inevitable as the United States accused Muammar Gaddafi of defying international demands for an immediate ceasefire, as France’s U.N. envoy predicted military action to take place within hours of an international meeting on Libya.
France will host a meeting on Saturday on Libya which will be attended by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and some Arab leaders. France has been leading for a drive for military intervention.
French ambassador Gerard Araud stressed that the summit in Paris with all the major participants in the operations and in the diplomatic effort would be a good moment to send the last signal. “So I guess that after this summit, I think that in the coming hours, I think we will go to launch the military intervention,” he said.
The Libyan government agreed on Friday for a unilateral ceasefire in order to hold off plans of outside powers for an air strike to force an end to the bloody civil war happening in the county. But there were reports that residents in the rebel-held western city of Misrata faced heavy bombardment on Friday, which the government denied, and that Gaddafi’s forces were still advancing towards the rebels’ eastern stronghold Benghazi.
U.S. President Barack Obama said the U.N. resolutions meant to end fighting in Libya were non-negotiable.
“All attacks against civilians must stop. Gaddafi must stop his troops from advancing in Banghazi, pull them back from Ajdabiya, Misrata and Zawiyah, and establish water, electricity and gas supplies to all areas. Humanitarian assistance must be allowed to reach the people of Libya,” Obama said, a day after the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution authorizing international military intervention.
“Let me be clear, these terms are not negotiable… if Gaddafi does not comply, the resolution will be enforced through military action,” he added.
