Brussels, 22/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - At the Political and Security Committee (COPS) on Tuesday 22 February, the Ambassadors of the member states discussed the situation in Libya, where the regime of Muammar Gaddafi has in recent hours stepped up its bloody repression of demonstrators still further. At the meeting, Germany raised the possibility of imposing European sanctions on the country and/or its current leaders, but the 27 still appear to be divided on the issue. At the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday, several countries (particularly Finland, Germany and Luxembourg) pleaded for restrictive measures, and other countries - notably Italy and Malta - defended a more cautious approach, due to fears of an influx of refugees and illegal immigrants to their coasts, should the Libyan state collapse. The debate on this issue will continue over the next few days.
The ambassador distances himself. Speaking out against the massacre in his country, Hadi Hadeiba, Libya's ambassador to the EU, told us on Tuesday of his total condemnation and indignation. However, he said, he would not defect, as other heads of his country's diplomatic missions in USA, European countries and the Arab League have done. “I am the ambassador of Libya, not Gaddafi”, he told EUROPE.
Verhoftstadt “scandalised”. "”Gaddafi must leave Libya now before there is more bloodshed. It is a scandal that the EU Foreign Affairs Council, meeting yesterday in Brussels, did not take position against Gaddafi beyond condemning his violent response to the demonstrations”, said the leader of the Liberal group (ALDE) at the European Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt, on Tuesday. “Our neighbourhood strategy for the Mediterranean region must be comprehensively and urgently redrawn to take account of the new facts on the ground and levels of assistance upgraded in light of the need to support and nurture the first shoots a genuine democratic expression across the region”, he said. The British MEP Charles Tannock (ECR) called for the EU and the USA immediately to impose a no-fly zone over Libyan territory to prevent the regime from launching further air attacks against protesters.
In the meantime, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) “calls on the EU and its member states to use all of their diplomatic weight to end the killing of civilians and to ensure the respect of freedom of assembly in Libya”. The EU must not give in to the “pressure of the Libyan regime, which has threatened to cease any cooperation with the EU regarding the fight against illegal immigration if Europe were not to stop encouraging the spread of democracy in the region”, the Network states. (H.B./F.B./transl.fl)