Libya: the curtain is up on the role of NATO with rebels
AFP - 26. August 2011, 4:53 p.m.
The role of active support to the rebels by some NATO forces in Libya, including in the hunt for Muammar Gaddafi and his family, is becoming increasingly clear, despite official denials of the alliance claiming to stick to the strict mandate of the UN.
A Royal Air Force Tornado is moving toward a hangar after landing in Norfolk March 19, 2011
A Royal Air Force Tornado A Royal Air Force is moving toward a hangar after landing in Norfolk March 19, 2011 AFP / File
The British Minister for Defence Liam Fox June 21, 2011 in London AFP / File
The UK in particular, spearheaded alongside of France who triggered the intervention six months ago, takes less precaution.
Its Ministry of Defence said on Friday that British planes had bombed at night a large bunker in Sirte used as HQ in the hometown of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on the run, just as the search for the "Guide" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya is a priority of the insurgents.
The day before, the British Minister of Defence Liam Fox was openly acknowledge the contribution of NATO in search of Muammar Gaddafi.
"I can confirm that NATO provides information and reconnaissance equipment to the National Transition Council to help locate Colonel Gaddafi and other remaining members of the regime," said Liam Fox, the taking-up against official statements of the Atlantic Alliance.
NATO continues to assert(lie) that it does not liaise with the rebels and it is not Gaddafi. "There is no military coordination with the rebels," said the spokesman for the Alliance Oana Lungescu, "we are conducting operations in Libya according to the letter our mandate" of the Security Council of the UN limiting the action to protect civilians.(LIES)
For Shashank Joshi, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute in London, this is purely a precautionary oratory.
NATO's assertion "is totally absurd," he says, "it is a necessary fiction to stick to the limits of UN Resolution 1973 and avoid legal problems and policies, "said he.
Russia and China in particular had both abstained to veto in the Security Council in February with the resolution 1973 which paved the way for Western intervention, but have been quick to blame the allies to go beyond their prerogatives.
"There are elements showing very clearly that NATO has not only helped the rebels but was a decisive and crucial partner for them. She was involved in a coordination andvery close support , without which the rebels couldn't have get so far in the conflict "Judge M. Joshi.
According to British newspaper Daily Telegraph, members of the SAS (Special Air Service) are deployed on the ground in Libya for several weeks and played a key role in coordinating the battle of Tripoli, while NATO claims to have no soldiers on the ground.
And according to an AFP journalist in Libya, French agents operating undercover are present for several weeks with the rebels on the Eastern Front. The French Government also acknowledged in the past, air drops of weapons to the attention of the Jebel Nefoussa rebels in the west.
A Western official, who requested anonymity, said that if the special forces are well on the ground they "follow the orders of their national commands" and not NATO as such.
For François Heisbourg, special adviser to the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS), the role of special forces alongside the Libyan rebels is very important "for the designation of targets, coordination between ground and air fronts, the supply of arms and education ".
AFP - 26. August 2011, 4:53 p.m.
The role of active support to the rebels by some NATO forces in Libya, including in the hunt for Muammar Gaddafi and his family, is becoming increasingly clear, despite official denials of the alliance claiming to stick to the strict mandate of the UN.
A Royal Air Force Tornado is moving toward a hangar after landing in Norfolk March 19, 2011
A Royal Air Force Tornado A Royal Air Force is moving toward a hangar after landing in Norfolk March 19, 2011 AFP / File
The British Minister for Defence Liam Fox June 21, 2011 in London AFP / File
The UK in particular, spearheaded alongside of France who triggered the intervention six months ago, takes less precaution.
Its Ministry of Defence said on Friday that British planes had bombed at night a large bunker in Sirte used as HQ in the hometown of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on the run, just as the search for the "Guide" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya is a priority of the insurgents.
The day before, the British Minister of Defence Liam Fox was openly acknowledge the contribution of NATO in search of Muammar Gaddafi.
"I can confirm that NATO provides information and reconnaissance equipment to the National Transition Council to help locate Colonel Gaddafi and other remaining members of the regime," said Liam Fox, the taking-up against official statements of the Atlantic Alliance.
NATO continues to assert(lie) that it does not liaise with the rebels and it is not Gaddafi. "There is no military coordination with the rebels," said the spokesman for the Alliance Oana Lungescu, "we are conducting operations in Libya according to the letter our mandate" of the Security Council of the UN limiting the action to protect civilians.(LIES)
For Shashank Joshi, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute in London, this is purely a precautionary oratory.
NATO's assertion "is totally absurd," he says, "it is a necessary fiction to stick to the limits of UN Resolution 1973 and avoid legal problems and policies, "said he.
Russia and China in particular had both abstained to veto in the Security Council in February with the resolution 1973 which paved the way for Western intervention, but have been quick to blame the allies to go beyond their prerogatives.
"There are elements showing very clearly that NATO has not only helped the rebels but was a decisive and crucial partner for them. She was involved in a coordination andvery close support , without which the rebels couldn't have get so far in the conflict "Judge M. Joshi.
According to British newspaper Daily Telegraph, members of the SAS (Special Air Service) are deployed on the ground in Libya for several weeks and played a key role in coordinating the battle of Tripoli, while NATO claims to have no soldiers on the ground.
And according to an AFP journalist in Libya, French agents operating undercover are present for several weeks with the rebels on the Eastern Front. The French Government also acknowledged in the past, air drops of weapons to the attention of the Jebel Nefoussa rebels in the west.
A Western official, who requested anonymity, said that if the special forces are well on the ground they "follow the orders of their national commands" and not NATO as such.
For François Heisbourg, special adviser to the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS), the role of special forces alongside the Libyan rebels is very important "for the designation of targets, coordination between ground and air fronts, the supply of arms and education ".
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