UN resolutions: US demands Libya go beyond ceasefire

Libya declares immediate ceasefire, prompting calls from the US and its allies that Tripoli needs to do much more.

TRIPOLI:

Libya on Friday declared an immediate ceasefire in the battle against rebels, prompting calls from the United States and its allies that Tripoli needed to do much more in compliance with the United Nations Security Council resolution passed earlier.

“Libya has decided an immediate ceasefire and an immediate halt to all military operations,” Foreign Minister Mussa Kussa said.

Despite the ceasefire announcement, Britain and France readied to launch military strikes and Nato agreed to speed up plans for a possible role for the 28-nation alliance.

No confirmation was also available that assaults on rebel positions had stopped.

In Washington, US President Barack Obama warned of military action if Muammar Qaddafi refused to honour a tough UN resolution, saying the Libyan leader would commit atrocities if left unchecked.

“All attacks against all civilians must stop,” Obama said in a White House East Room speech.

Amid these warnings, Europe’s air traffic agency banned civilian flights from Libyan air space while British Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain would take part in a joint mission with US and French forces, along with Arab support.

Britain will move Tornado and Typhoon fighter jets to bases near Libya in the “coming hours”, Cameron said. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said “everything is ready” to intervene in Libya, but he refused to give a timetable.

There was no immediate indication of possible targets but a highly-placed French source last week mentioned Kadhafi’s Bab al-Azizia command headquarters in Tripoli, a military air base in Sirte, east of the capital, and another in Sebha in the south.

An AFP correspondent in Tripoli reported hearing loud, distant explosions, but could not pinpoint them or say what caused them.

Meeting Thursday, the Security Council voted to permit “all necessary measures” to establish a no-fly zone, protect civilian areas and impose a ceasefire on Qaddafi’s military. Resolution 1973 “demands the immediate establishment of a ceasefire and a complete end to violence and all attacks against, and abuses of, civilians.”

Kussa said Libya, as a member of the United Nations, was “obliged to accept the UN Security Council’s resolutions.”

But only hours earlier, Muammar Qaddafi told Portuguese television the council had “no mandate” for such a resolution, “which we absolutely do not recognise.”

Rebel military commander Khalifa Heftir, speaking in the rebels’ eastern bastion of Benghazi, accused Qaddafi of “bluffing.”

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said reports of a ceasefire would be judged on “action” not words.

She said the United States and its allies were still considering what would be “the most effective measures” to end the crisis, while repeating calls for Qaddafi to go.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said, “The issue of course is what’s the significance of the statement on the ceasefire and how that fits in.” “Our view is that Qaddafi should go,” she reiterated.

Earlier, rebels in Misrata, an enclave of the insurrection between Sirte and Tripoli, said Qaddafi’s forces were pounding the city after a night of heavy gunfire.

Clashes were also reported in the western towns of Nalut and Zintan.

The United Nations has estimated more than 1,000 people have been killed in the uprising that began in early February inspired by the protests in Egypt.

In The Hague, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) warned that any indiscriminate attack on civilians in Benghazi would constitute “war crimes.”

“The commanders will be responsible. As the prosecutor of the ICC, I will request an arrest warrant against them.” Luis Moreno-Ocampo said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2011.