France says overthrow of Gaddafi is beyond scope of UN resolution but Britain says no new resolution is needed
The sense of diplomatic disarray was underlined when France also made clear that it was pushing for wider Nato strategic strikes on Gaddafi regime military targets – even though there is no sign that more members of the alliance are prepared to take part in combat missions.
The urgency was underlined by reports from the coastal city of Misrata in western Libya, which was hit by more than 100 rockets on Friday. Hundreds of civilians have died there during a six-week siege. Libyan TV said Nato planes had hit targets in Gaddafi's birthplace of Sirte and al-Aziziyah, south of Tripoli.
Gérard Longuet, the French defence minister, agreed in an interview that removing the Libyan leader appeared to be beyond the scope of UN resolution 1973, which was passed to protect Libyan civilians. Britain's Foreign Office insisted, however, that no new resolution was needed and that there were no plans for one. Russia and China would almost certainly veto anything that smacked of explicitly authorising regime change.
Worries about "mission creep" in Libya were fuelled by a joint statement by Barack Obama, David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy, warning that it would be "an unconscionable betrayal" if Gaddafi remained in power. "Our duty and our mandate under UN security council resolution 1973 is to protect civilians, and we are doing that," the three leaders said. "It is not to remove Gaddafi by force. But it is impossible to imagine a future for Libya with Gaddafi in power."
Analysts suggested that personalising the issue by focusing on Gaddafi was a subtle but deliberate shift towards regime change, as was a reference to the suffering of the "Libyan people" rather than the "civilians" mentioned by the UN.
British MPs, including the senior conservative David Davis, called for a recall of parliament because the military mission in Libya had changed. But Foreign Office officials said the leaders' statement was a reiteration of existing policy, not a new one. Differences from the UN language were "stylistic rather than substantive".
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Nato's secretary general, was forced on to the defensive to argue that operations to protect Libyan civilians were in line with what the security council had approved and not an undeclared policy of regime change.
Rasmussen, chairing a meeting of foreign ministers in Berlin, was responding to criticism from Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, who had claimed that the situation in Libya had "spun out of control". Rasmussen said Nato was acting "in strict conformity with both the spirit and the letter of the resolution, and authorised member states to take "all necessary measures... to protect civilians and civilian areas under threat of attack".
France was meanwhile leading a push, which diplomats said was backed by Britain, to hit more strategic military targets in Libya, beyond tactical airstrikes on Gaddafi's armour in the vicinity of cities such as Misrata and Ajdabiya.
Officials in Paris and London say they believe it will prove more effective to destroy Libyan regime command and control centres than to arm the poorly-organised Benghazi-based rebels, as several other countries are demanding.
Yet efforts to drum up more military resources are not working. Rasmussen admitted he had not yet had any firm offers from other allies to "step up to the plate" and offer the precision planes which Nato's commander for Libya requested.
Only 14 of Nato's 28 members are actively participating in the operation – joined by Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Sweden – and only six of those are striking targets on the ground in Libya.
Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said the Libya crisis needed a political solution that should be led from the region, particularly by the African Union, rather than outside it. "There is no magic bullet," he said. Asked about whether Nato should boost military operations to oust Gaddafi, Lavrov said: "The UN has not authorised regime change.
guardian.co.uk
Gérard Longuet, the French defence minister. Photograph: Philippe Wojazer/Reuters
Britain and France, close allies in the Libyan campaign, are at odds over whether the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi could be achieved without a new resolution by the UN security council.The sense of diplomatic disarray was underlined when France also made clear that it was pushing for wider Nato strategic strikes on Gaddafi regime military targets – even though there is no sign that more members of the alliance are prepared to take part in combat missions.
The urgency was underlined by reports from the coastal city of Misrata in western Libya, which was hit by more than 100 rockets on Friday. Hundreds of civilians have died there during a six-week siege. Libyan TV said Nato planes had hit targets in Gaddafi's birthplace of Sirte and al-Aziziyah, south of Tripoli.
Gérard Longuet, the French defence minister, agreed in an interview that removing the Libyan leader appeared to be beyond the scope of UN resolution 1973, which was passed to protect Libyan civilians. Britain's Foreign Office insisted, however, that no new resolution was needed and that there were no plans for one. Russia and China would almost certainly veto anything that smacked of explicitly authorising regime change.
Worries about "mission creep" in Libya were fuelled by a joint statement by Barack Obama, David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy, warning that it would be "an unconscionable betrayal" if Gaddafi remained in power. "Our duty and our mandate under UN security council resolution 1973 is to protect civilians, and we are doing that," the three leaders said. "It is not to remove Gaddafi by force. But it is impossible to imagine a future for Libya with Gaddafi in power."
Analysts suggested that personalising the issue by focusing on Gaddafi was a subtle but deliberate shift towards regime change, as was a reference to the suffering of the "Libyan people" rather than the "civilians" mentioned by the UN.
British MPs, including the senior conservative David Davis, called for a recall of parliament because the military mission in Libya had changed. But Foreign Office officials said the leaders' statement was a reiteration of existing policy, not a new one. Differences from the UN language were "stylistic rather than substantive".
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Nato's secretary general, was forced on to the defensive to argue that operations to protect Libyan civilians were in line with what the security council had approved and not an undeclared policy of regime change.
Rasmussen, chairing a meeting of foreign ministers in Berlin, was responding to criticism from Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, who had claimed that the situation in Libya had "spun out of control". Rasmussen said Nato was acting "in strict conformity with both the spirit and the letter of the resolution, and authorised member states to take "all necessary measures... to protect civilians and civilian areas under threat of attack".
France was meanwhile leading a push, which diplomats said was backed by Britain, to hit more strategic military targets in Libya, beyond tactical airstrikes on Gaddafi's armour in the vicinity of cities such as Misrata and Ajdabiya.
Officials in Paris and London say they believe it will prove more effective to destroy Libyan regime command and control centres than to arm the poorly-organised Benghazi-based rebels, as several other countries are demanding.
Yet efforts to drum up more military resources are not working. Rasmussen admitted he had not yet had any firm offers from other allies to "step up to the plate" and offer the precision planes which Nato's commander for Libya requested.
Only 14 of Nato's 28 members are actively participating in the operation – joined by Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Sweden – and only six of those are striking targets on the ground in Libya.
Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said the Libya crisis needed a political solution that should be led from the region, particularly by the African Union, rather than outside it. "There is no magic bullet," he said. Asked about whether Nato should boost military operations to oust Gaddafi, Lavrov said: "The UN has not authorised regime change.
guardian.co.uk
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