Libya: US to deploy armed drones - Robert Gates

Armed US Predator drones are to carry out missions over Libya, Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said.

Mr Gates said their use had been authorised by President Barack Obama and would give "precision capability" to the military operation.
Unmanned US drones are already used to target militants along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Libyan rebels have been battling Col Gaddafi's troops since February but have recently made little headway.
"President Obama has said that where we have some unique capabilities, he is willing to use those," Mr Gates told a news conference.
He said two Predators were being made available to Nato as needed, and marked a "modest contribution" to the military operations.
Gen James Cartwright, vice-chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the first mission had taken place on Thursday but the drones had turned back because of bad weather.
He said the drones - which can fly at a lower altitude than conventional fighter jets - were "uniquely suited for urban areas", providing improved visibility of tanks and other potential targets.

But Libya's deputy foreign minister warned that they would cause more civilian casualties and would not change the outcome of the conflict in Libya.

"They [drones] will kill more civilians and this is very sad," Khaled Khaim told the BBC. "It's for the Libyans to choose their destiny - not by sending more weapons or more airstrikes, or more money and weapons to the rebels."


Mr Gates denied that the drone deployment was evidence of "mission creep" in Libya and said there were still no plans to put US "boots on the ground" in Libya.
"There's no wiggle room in that," he said.
Meanwhile, US Senator John McCain has arrived on a visit to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
A crowd of about 50 people greeted him at the courthouse in Benghazi, chanting, "The nasty Gaddafi has left and McCain came", the AFP news agency reports.
Senator McCain, a former Republican presidential candidate, is the highest-ranking US official to visit the rebel-held east of the country since the uprising began two months ago
Source-BBC