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| Air strike: Vehicles belonging to forces loyal to Gaddafi are destroyed in a spectacular explosion after an air strike by coalition forces along a road between Benghazi and Ajdabivah |
by Tim Shipman and Michael Seamark
Source: The Daily Mail , London
Three Cabinet Ministers refuse to rule out the eventual deployment of ground troops
Gaddafi's residential compound in Tripoli struck in 'symbolic' air strike in second night of coalition bombing raids
U.S., British and French planes blast a line of tanks that had been moving in on rebel capital Benghazi
(March 21, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) Britain is ready to launch a surgical strike to assassinate Colonel Gaddafi. Defence Secretary Liam Fox said yesterday he would sanction a ‘bunker buster’ attack on the Libyan dictator’s lair as long as civilian casualties could be avoided.
Dr Fox vowed to destroy the Libyan dictator’s entire military infrastructure as senior officials privately admitted they want to engineer regime change.
As Britain launched further strikes using Tomahawk cruise missiles last night and RAF strike jets launched a second night of raids, fears grew of ‘mission creep’ in the military assault intended to enforce the United Nations resolution authorising a no-fly zone over Libya.
In a second night of bombing, a three-storey administration building in Gaddafi's residential compound was struck close to his iconic tent, according to reports. Around 300 of the dictator's supporters were in the area at the time although it was unclear if anyone was hurt.
U.S., British and French planes blasted a line of tanks that had been moving in on the rebel capital Benghazi, in the opposition-held eastern half of the country.
A Libyan army spokesman had declared a fresh ceasefire yesterday but the U.S. and Britain said they did not believe Gaddafi was honoring it and would continue to enforce the no-fly zone.
Three Cabinet ministers last night refused to rule out the eventual deployment of British ground troops, saying only that there are no plans to do so ‘at the moment’.
The clear warning to Gaddafi came during a dramatic 36 hours in which:
■ Missiles were launched from Tornado jets which flew a 3,000-mile round trip from RAF Marham in Norfolk – the longest-range bombing mission since the Falklands;
■ SAS troops were already in Libya, spotting and marking targets for RAF bombers;
■ Burned-out tanks and charred bodies of Gaddafi’s forces littered the road to rebel-held Benghazi;
■ The Arab League condemned the air strikes saying: ‘What we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians’;
■ Russia joined the criticism, saying the strikes hit non-military targets and called for a ‘halt in the indiscriminate use of force’;
■ Royal Navy warships HMS Westminster and HMS Cumberland prepared to join a blockade of Libyan ports;
■ MI6 spies phoned Gaddafi’s generals warning them that they will be targeted by missiles unless they defect;
■ Gaddafi’s forces claimed that 48 civilians were killed and 150 injured in the raids, but this was not confirmed.
Last night, as his beleaguered regime braced itself for a second wave of allied missile and bomb attacks on military targets, Gaddafi issued orders for another ‘immediate ceasefire’.
Given that his previous ceasefire last Friday was quickly exposed as a cynical ruse to carry on killing his own people – and that Gaddafi had earlier vowed to wage a ‘long war’ against the ‘crusader alliance’ of the UK, U.S. and France – the announcement was treated with suspicion.
The strikes by the RAF were part of a multinational operation on Saturday night and in the early hours of Sunday.
The UK also launched half a dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles from HMS Triumph, a submerged Royal Navy submarine in the Mediterranean, which were aimed at targets around the coastal cities of Tripoli and Misratah.
At least 110 missiles were fired in total by the U.S. and UK, and they hit 20 of 22 targets causing significant damage. The missile launch was followed by a pre-dawn raid by RAF Tornados and U.S. stealth bombers.
The Ministry of Defence declared itself ‘entirely comfortable’ with the success of the raid, while U.S. senior military officer Admiral Mike Mullen said that a no-fly zone was now effectively in place over the north African state.
U.S. officials indicated that further operations would take place, and several RAF Typhoons arrived yesterday from Coningsby in Lincolnshire to the Gioia del Colle airbase in southern Italy, to achieve easier access to targets in Libya.
But while the military operation appeared flawless, concerns grew over the political game-plan.
In three days the Government has gone from securing a UN resolution backing a no-fly zone, through air strikes to openly discussing targeting Colonel Gaddafi. The UN resolution does not permit an invasion or explicitly sanction regime change.
The developments sparked concerns last night that the Government has not learnt from the mistakes of the Iraq War.
Defence sources said that they will target Libyan military installations and that Gaddafi’s death might be a consequence of that.
David Cameron will face searching questions about the threat of mission creep when he makes a statement to the Commons today.
Downing Street was adamant last night that he has ‘no intention whatsoever’ of sanctioning a ground deployment.
But Dr Fox, Foreign Secretary William Hague and Chancellor George Osborne all refused to rule out the use of ground troops.
Wavering Arab League causes consternation in Whitehall
Britain launched a damage limitation exercise last night amid signs of wavering Arab support for the air strikes.
There was consternation in Whitehall after Amr Moussa, the secretary general of the Arab League, reportedly condemned the raids.
In comments carried by respected international news agencies, Mr Moussa accused Britain, France and the U.S. of attacking civilians – parroting a charge made by the Gaddafi regime.
‘What we want is protection of civilians and not bombing other civilians,’ Mr Moussa was reported as saying.
Russia, which abstained in Thursday’s Security Council vote, called on all involved in the Libyan conflict ‘to halt the indiscriminate use of force’.
The remarks sparked anxiety since it was the Arab League that first called for a no-fly zone.
British diplomats were quickly in contact with Mr Moussa to clarify what he had said. Foreign Secretary William Hague revealed that Mr Moussa claimed he was misquoted.
But it appeared that the head of the Arab League, who hopes to become the new leader of Egypt, struck a different tone when speaking in Arabic compared to warmer comments about the military action made in English.
The incident exposed the perils of a Western onslaught on an Arab and Muslim nation, and the difficulty of getting Arab nations to give public backing to action they privately support.
Qatar last night revealed that it has sent a handful of warplanes to join the raids on Libya. The United Arab Emirates is also set to help out.
Mr Hague and Defence Secretary Liam Fox both made clear that Britain is desperate for Arab military involvement to give the mission legitimacy in the Middle East.
Dr Fox said: ‘To have active Arab participation in the no-fly zone makes it clear on the Arab street that this is not about attacking the Arab world, this is to defend the Libyan people against a vicious and brutal dictatorship.’
Saad Djabbar, a former adviser to the Libyan government, said Mr Moussa wanted to burnish his political credentials by negotiating an exit strategy for Colonel Gaddafi which would see him dodge war crimes charges.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘Unlike Gaddafi, the coalition is not attacking civilians. All missions are meticulously planned to avoid civilian casualties.
‘We will continue to work with our Arab partners to enforce the resolution for the good of the Libyan people.’
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