Sunday, July 3, 2011

NATO Ramping Up Airstrikes in Western Libya

Spain, U.S. rebuff Gadhafi's threat of retaliation

In this photo taken on a government-organized tour, a girl holds a poster of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi during a demonstration against NATO at a U.N. building in Tripoli, Libya, Saturday, July 2, 2011. (AP / Tara Todras-Whitehill)Rebel fighters seen before heavy clashes with pro-Moammar Gadhafi forces on the front line of Dafniya in Misrata, Libya, Friday, June 17, 2011. (AP Photo)
In this photo taken on a government-organized tour, a girl holds a poster of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi during a demonstration against NATO at a U.N. building in Tripoli, Libya, Saturday, July 2, 2011. (AP / Tara Todras-Whitehill)
In this photo taken on a government-organized tour, a girl holds a poster
of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi during a demonstration against
NATO at a U.N. building in Tripoli, Libya, Saturday, July 2, 2011. (AP / Tara Todras-Whitehill)  
 
The Associated Press
Date: Saturday Jul. 2, 2011 8:28 AM ET
MADRID — The United States and Spain said Saturday they won't let Moammar Gadhafi's threats of retaliatory attacks in Europe deter their mission to protect Libyan civilians and force him to leave power after four decades of often unpredictable and sometimes violent rule.
"Instead of issuing threats, he should be putting the well-being and interests of his own people first," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said. "He should step down from power."
Speaking in Spain on the last leg of a three-nation European tour, Clinton brushed aside Gadhafi's brazen warning Friday that unless NATO halted air attacks against his regime, he would retaliate with attacks on civilians in Europe.
Gadhafi told a large pro-government rally in Tripoli that "homes, offices and families" would become legitimate military targets.
It was unclear how Gadhafi would make good on his threats and despite his past backing for various militant groups, whether the latest outburst amounted to anything more than a political rallying cry from a leader given to outlandish rhetoric. He delivered his message by telephone from an unknown location.
Appearing alongside Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez at a news conference in Madrid, Clinton said Gadhafi must end military operations. She insisted that NATO's mission to protect civilians was on track and that the pressure on Gadhafi to cede power was mounting.
"The rebels are gaining strength and momentum," Clinton said. "We need to see this through."
Jimenez said Gadhafi's threats wouldn't diminish Spain's resolve.
"We will continue exerting the same military and political pressure," she said, "to protect Libyan citizens from the threat and the use of military violence by Col. Gadhafi."
Asked about the opposition by some African leaders to the international arrest warrant against Gadhafi, his son Seif al-Islam and Libya's intelligence chief, Clinton noted that the referral for action came in a United Nations resolution. Nigeria, Gabon and South Africa, the three African members of the Security Council, voted in favour, she noted.
A number of Africa's leaders said Friday at an African Union conference in Equatorial Guinea that they wouldn't respect the warrant, causing some concern that Gadhafi may be able to find haven across large parts of the continent. But Clinton said the majority of African nations supported international justice in this case.
On Afghanistan, Clinton thanked Spain for its support in training policemen and improving health care, and expressed condolences for two Spanish soldiers killed in a roadside bomb attack earlier this week. The two diplomats said they'd work hard as the international coalition transfers greater responsibility to Afghan authorities.More...

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