Brussels, 15/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - The G8 group of countries has called for new UN measures to “increase the pressure” on Muammar Gaddafi but it would seem that a no-fly zone has been definitively ruled out. There is no consensus in the international community on such a risky military intervention as Gaddafi's troops appear to be gaining the upper hand against the rebels who are being pushed further and further back towards Benghazi. The EU is still divided on this issue. France and the United Kingdom back the no-fly zone and targeted strikes - London, unlike Paris, seems willing to consider action without the go-ahead from the Security Council - but other member states, with Germany first among this group, remain firmly opposed, fearing being dragged into a war. There is also deadlock in the UN Security Council, where China and Russia confirmed their opposition on Monday 14 March and the US has strong reservations. A UN mandate is deemed essential to give an adequate legal basis for intervention in Libya. There was no agreement on the no-fly zone in the G8, whose foreign ministers met in Paris on Tuesday 15 March. The world's eight most industrialised countries restricted themselves to “calling on the Security Council to increase pressure on Colonel Gaddafi”, as French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé said after the meeting. The G8 wants the Security Council to adopt a new resolution containing non-military measures that would allow assistance to be provided to the Libyan opposition in Benghazi as quickly as possible, that is, before the end of the week, he said. Juppé did not want to prejudge what the Security Council would decide. “There is a raft of possible measures - tougher sanctions, humanitarian zones, there was talk of a maritime embargo. All these options will be considered”, he said. The G8 also called on Gaddafi to respect the “legitimate calls of the Libyan people” on fundamental rights, freedom of expression and a representative form of government, and he gave warning of the “dramatic consequences” if this was not the case. Italian minister Franco Frattini called for a cease-fire and the creation of a humanitarian zone to protect civilians.
EU mission to Benghazi. EU High Representative Catherine Ashton has sent a team to Benghazi to assess the situation on the ground and how to help the opposition. The team, which travelled to Libya on 13 March, is made up of members of the European External Action Service (EEAS) and led by the head of the European centre for crisis management, Agostino Miozzo. The aim is to gather information and assess the situation in order to assist the contingency planning which is going on to respond to the Libyan crisis, diplomats said.
Gaddafi “shocked” by his “European friends”. In an interview with Italian daily Il Giornale of 15 March, Colonel Gaddafi, certain of victory over the insurgents, says he feels “betrayed” by his former European allies, including Silvio Berlusconi and Nicolas Sarkozy. “I am really shocked by the attitude of my European friends. They have endangered and impaired a whole series of major agreements on security, which are in their interest, and the economic cooperation we have”, he said. French President Sarkozy, who recognised the National Transition Council, “is mentally disturbed. He has said things that can only come from the brain of a madman”, Gaddafi fulminated. When asked about his relations with Berlusconi, previously his closest ally in Europe, Gaddafi replied: “I feel that I have been betrayed, even by him. I do not know what to say to Berlusconi”. He announced that there would be a “review” of economic, financial and security relations with the West once his country returns to stability. (H.B./transl.rt)