Allied jet fighters hit Gaddafi’s forces

• French planes in action as dictator given ultimatum • Loyalists launch attack on last rebel stronghold Western planes led strikes against Muammar Gaddafi’s military as world leaders ordered the biggest intervention in the Arab world since allied forces invaded Iraq in 2003. The patience of the international community finally ran out as Gaddafi’s troops pounded the rebel stronghold of Benghazi hours after the Libyan dictator had promised a full ceasefire and invited foreign officials into his country to monitor it. After US, European and Arab leaders met for urgent talks in Paris, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, said his aircraft were already in action to stop what he described as Gaddafi’s “murderous madness”. He said: “Our air force will oppose any aggression by Colonel Gaddafi against the population of Benghazi. As of now, our aircraft are preventing planes from attacking the town. As of now, other French aircraft are ready to intervene against tanks, armoured vehicles threatening unarmed civilians.” David Cameron said action was needed to stop Gaddafi slaughtering his own people and flouting the will of the international community. “Colonel Gaddafi has made this happen. He has lied to the international community. He has promised a ceasefire. He has broken that ceasefire. He continues to brutalise his own people. The time for action has come,” the prime minister said. The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said the people of Libya had appealed for help and the international community had been united in its determination to respond: “We have every reason to fear that, left unchecked, Gaddafi will commit unspeakable atrocities. His campaign of violence must stop.” Even before the summit, military sources said French Rafale planes were carrying out reconnaissance missions. Rafales are designed for bombing, reconnaissance and air defence purposes, but can also be equipped with laser-guided bombs for air strikes. A French official said a French fighter jet had fired on a Libyan military vehicle in the first exchanges with Gaddafi’s forces. French defence ministry spokesman Thierry Burkhard said the strike had been reported around 16.45 GMT. France expects to carry out most of its air missions from its base on Corsica while it is believed UK fighters would be deployed from southern Italy or Cyprus. An American official said that the US intended to limit its involvement to protecting allied air missions by taking out Libyan air defences with missile strikes launched from US Navy ships stationed in the Mediterranean. Six Danish F-16 fighter jets landed at a US air base in Sicily, while Canadian CF-18 Hornets were also in the region. The Gaddafi regime announced on Friday that it would lay down arms after the UN security council passed resolution 1,973, authorising “all necessary measures” short of foreign occupation to protect the civilians of Libya. But as world leaders gathered in Paris, it was clear that forces loyal to the Libyan dictator had no such intention as they rushed to storm Benghazi – apparently in the belief that if they could embed themselves among the city’s large civilian population it would be more difficult for allied forces to oust them. Early yesterday, a rebel plane was shot down over Benghazi sending plumes of black smoke into the sky. Fighting in Benghazi continued even as French military jets began patrols over the city. It was not immediately clear whether a large explosion that rocked the edge of Benghazi after dusk was caused by Libyan forces on the ground or marked the beginning of the western air assault. “Libya is not yours. Libya is for the Libyans. The security council resolution is invalid,” Gaddafi wrote earlier in an open letter to Cameron, Sarkozy and UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon. “You will regret it if you dare to intervene in our country.” He was more conciliatory in a message to US President Barack Obama, asking him: “If you found them taking over American cities by the force of arms, tell me, what you would do?” British sources said Cameron held discussions with Sarkozy before they joined Clinton for a session of the “leadership of the coalition of the willing”. A session with all international leaders gathered in Paris then took place. Moussa Koussa, Gaddafi’s foreign minister, insisted that Libya was abiding by the UN security council resolution passed on Thursday and that the ceasefire he announced on Friday was still in place. Libya has blamed rebels it describes as “armed gangs linked to al-Qaida” for breaching it. But the ceasefire was widely seen as a tactic to try to buy time and fuel international divisions over intervention. Any attack would be the first foreign military action against Libya since the US bombing of 1986 after a terrorist attack on US personnel in a Berlin nightclub. The 1988 Lockerbie bombing was widely seen as Libya’s retaliation for that. Jana, the official Libyan news agency, reported that volunteers were heading to strategic sites that might be targeted by UN-mandated attacks to act as “human shields”. Al-Jamahirya TV showed protests at Tripoli international airport, Gaddafi’s Bab al-Azizya barracks in the capital, and the airports in his home town of Sirte and in Sebha in the south of the country, a regime stronghold and the site of an important military base. Libyan opposition sources reported government forces forcibly taking people away from Zawiya, Zuwara and other areas where there has been resistance to the regime. Another claim said the families of personnel who might be tempted to defect were being taken to Bab al-Aziziya. A communiqué issued after the Paris talks described the actions of the Libyan regime as “intolerable”. It said that the Libyan people had been peacefully expressing their rejection of their leaders and their aspirations for change, adding: “In the face of these legitimate requests coming from all over the country, the Libyan regime has carried out a growing brutal crackdown, using weapons of war against its own people and perpetrating against them grave and massive violations of humanitarian law.” Libya Middle East Nicolas Sarkozy United Nations Muammar Gaddafi France France Europe United States David Cameron Chris McGreal Ian Black Toby Helm Kim Willsher guardian.co.uk

Posted by on March 19, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.