US military ‘shot six Libyan villagers’ in pilot rescue

• Six injured on ground after US fighter jet crashes • US military denies shooting Libyan civilians in rescue • Fighting continues on the ground Read the Guardian’s latest news story Follow live updates here 6.35pm: France’s foreign minister, Alain Juppé, has announced that a meeting of foreign ministers from countries taking part in the military action on Libya would be held in the next few days and mentioned Paris, Brussels and London as possible venues. Kim Willsher in Paris reports for the Guardian: He spoke to the French parliament as it emerged the coalition of countries involved in the operation was riven with disagreements over who should lead it and the role of Nato. France has opposed Nato taking charge of the military operation. “At the president’s behest and with the agreement of our British colleagues that we set up a political structure to oversee the operations involving foreign ministers from the countries taking part and the Arab League,” Juppé said. Laurent Tessiere, spokesman for the French ministry of defence, said France had opposed Nato running the operation because it did not want to “send the message that this was a western only led operation” and said this was a “key political dimension to be understood by the Arab world”. He admitted discussions over the role of Nato had been a “very vivid debate” that was still going on but that the views of countries involved was “converging towards a solution”. And he denied reports that France had not consulted with its allies over the timing of air strikes against Libya. He said the French chief of military staff had negotiated for days “and sometimes whole nights” with his opposite numbers in the UK and the US. 6.31pm: It’s clear that Western forces want to assassinate Muammar Gaddafi, Libya’s deputy foreign minister has said in an interview with Reuters. “That’s the problem now we are seeing, the coalition forces they are part of the war against the legitimate government,” Khaled Kaim claimed, adding that coalition forces were also striking soldiers in their barracks. Kaim said it was clear from a strike that damaged a building in Gaddafi’s Tripoli headquarters that Western forces want to assassinate the Libyan leader. All sides should declare a ceasefire with the aim of stabilising Libya, he said, adding that the regime was was looking to Libya’s tribes to help it open a dialogue with rebels. 6.20pm: Good evening and welcome to our continuing coverage of events in Libya. You can catch up with earlier coverage here . • There are conflicting accounts of events following the crash of a US F-15E Strike Eagle in Libya after which six civilians were injured. A US spokesman has “100%” denied reports that the civilians were injured by shooting from a US helicopter rescue mission for the two pilots. A US admiral earlier refused to deny that a crew sent to rescue downed airmen opened fire on Libyan villagers. A witness reportedly said the rescue team fired shots to keep the Libyans away, then swooped in and rescued one of the crew. Six Libyans are said to be wounded. The F-15E Strike Eagle jet was conducting a mission Monday night when it crashed outside Benghazi, apparently from a malfunction. • Residents in Misrata, western Libya, say the town has come under heavy tank and sniper fire. Doctors reportedly are operating on people with bullet and shrapnel wounds in hospital corridors. Ajdabiya and Zintan have also reportedly been under attack in a continuing onslaught from Muammar Gaddafi’s forces. • The US insists it will hand control of military operations to its allies within days amid rows over Nato’s leadership role in the air campaign. France has proposed that a new political steering committee outside Nato be responsible for overseeing military operations as some Nato countries oppose military intervention in Libya. Here is the latest story on events today . Full live coverage continues here. Libya Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Defence policy Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk

Posted by on March 22, 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.