Britain Will Send Military Advisers to Libya, Hoping to Tip Balance for Rebel Forces
By RAVI SOMAIYA
NYT
LONDON — Britain’s decision to send experienced military officers to Libya, to advise rebels fighting forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, marks the latest development in the international community’s search for a means to end a bloody military stalemate that has killed hundreds in the contested cities of Misurata and Ajdabiya and left the rebels in only tenuous control of a few major coastal cities.
The soldiers’ marching orders are to help the makeshift rebel forces “improve their military organizational structures, communications and logistics,” Britain’s foreign secretary, William Hague, said in a statement.
Britain had previously been providing what Mr. Hague described as “nonlethal assistance,” in the form of telecommunications equipment and body armor. He maintained that the new deployment fell within the United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing the international community to protect Libyan civilians but ruling out an occupation force. The military team will work with British diplomats who are already in Benghazi, the de facto rebel capital, he said.
The officers will be deployed “quickly,” said Britain’s Defense Ministry, but it declined to provide further details on the timeline or the number of soldiers. The Associated Press reported that there could be as many as 20.
(More here.)
NYT
LONDON — Britain’s decision to send experienced military officers to Libya, to advise rebels fighting forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, marks the latest development in the international community’s search for a means to end a bloody military stalemate that has killed hundreds in the contested cities of Misurata and Ajdabiya and left the rebels in only tenuous control of a few major coastal cities.
The soldiers’ marching orders are to help the makeshift rebel forces “improve their military organizational structures, communications and logistics,” Britain’s foreign secretary, William Hague, said in a statement.
Britain had previously been providing what Mr. Hague described as “nonlethal assistance,” in the form of telecommunications equipment and body armor. He maintained that the new deployment fell within the United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing the international community to protect Libyan civilians but ruling out an occupation force. The military team will work with British diplomats who are already in Benghazi, the de facto rebel capital, he said.
The officers will be deployed “quickly,” said Britain’s Defense Ministry, but it declined to provide further details on the timeline or the number of soldiers. The Associated Press reported that there could be as many as 20.
(More here.)
Powered by Blogger
1 Comments:
No need to listen what Libyan leaders are saying the forces trying to kill all the rebels and also they do not want to participate in help of Libyan people if the other forces will come to Libya then they will what is going on in Libya exactly that's why they do not want to allow other countries forces into Libya.
Post a Comment
<< Home