Brussels, 13/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 13 May, several member states announced their readiness to contribute to the EU humanitarian assistance mission off the coast of Libya (EUFOR Libya) (see EUROPE 10357). The force generation conference for this eventual military operation that the EU could deploy at the request of the OCHA (UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) had taken place on the basis of an operations plan prepared by the operations headquarters. Conceived in the prospect of a request from OCHA, the plan prepares for EU intervention after four scenarios considered the most plausible. Thus, the EU is ready to intervene to escort humanitarian convoys, evacuate humanitarian workers, secure the port of Misrata, or secure long term (5-30 days) provision of humanitarian aid. At this stage, Portugal, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Malta and Italy are ready to contribute to the operation, in addition to countries such as Austria, Finland or Poland, which already support the operations staff. As things stand, international law bans the use of military force engaged in military operations from being used to assist humanitarian operations. (A.By./transl.jl)