Libya: Italy proposes arms for Libyan rebels
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Italy rallied behind Libyan rebels as they made their first appearance on a global stage on Wednesday, saying the world should consider arming them, as Britain urged new pressure to force Moamer Kadhafi out of power.
The support came ahead of the opening of an international contact group meeting in Doha on Wednesday, where the rebels are seeking increased international recognition.
But a rift appeared to be opening between EU partners with Belgium expressing opposition to Italy's proposal and Germany insisting there could be "no military solution".
Italy wants the international community to consider arming the rebels under the UN resolution authorising the use of all means to defend civilians, the Italian foreign ministry spokesman said on the sidelines of the meeting.
But Belgium's foreign minister said his country was opposed and that arms were not covered by UN Security Council Resolution 1973.
"The discussion about arming the rebels is definitely on the table ... to defend themselves," Italy's Maurizio Massari said.
"The UN resolution ... does not forbid arming" the rebels fighting Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's forces, he told reporters, while adding that a decision was unlikely to be taken at the meeting in the Qatari capital.
"We need to provide the rebels all possible defensive means," he said, singling out communication and intelligence equipment.
However, Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere said: "The UN resolution speaks about protecting civilians, not arming them."
And German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said: "We will not see a military solution" in Libya, but stressed that Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi had to step down. "Germany is ready to support humanitarian action for the people of Libya."
NATO chief Anders Fogh Rassmussen agreed that a political settlement was the only solution.
"We hope this meeting can facilitate a political solution for the problem in Libya, and obviously there is no military solution so we have to initiate a political process," he said
British Foreign Secretary William Hague was upbeat about the meeting and said it would "strengthen" the pressure on Kadhafi to step down.
"It is impossible for anyone to see a viable future for Libya with Colonel Kadhafi in power," Hague told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting.
"Pressure for Kadhafi to go will increase at the meeting today. It will strengthen, not weaken," he said.
Hague also suggested that the meeting would look at setting up funding streams from Gulf states to help maintain services in the rebel-held east.
"One of the things we will look at today is a funding mechanism for those states that wish to provide funding to maintain basic services in the east of Libya, the opposition-held areas, so that life can go on," he told BBC radio.
"I wasn't suggesting that we will be donating to that mechanism but of course we're working here with countries that may well be doing so."
On the eve of the meeting, a spokesman for the rebel Transitional National Council said it would accept nothing short of the removal of Kadhafi and his sons from the country.
Mahmud Shammam, whose council is seeking international approval, stressed: "We want to move from the de facto recognition of the council to an internationally-recognised legitimacy."
Such recognition would pave the way for the TNC to receive billions of dollars of desperately needed Libyan funds frozen in the United States and Britain, and the right to obtain credit at sovereign rates.
The Libyan opposition's Transitional National Council will address the contact group as an alternative voice for Libya's people.
In London on March 29, the TNC was not permitted to attend the plenary session of an international ministerial conference on the crisis, although its envoys held bilateral talks with several world powers on the sidelines.
Since London, with Kadhafi continuing to defy NATO air strikes, the opposition council has gained support and recognition, notably from France, Italy and Qatar.
The African Union peace plan looked to be dead in the water after rebels dismissed a ceasefire out of hand.
Having managed to secure Kadhafi's agreement to a truce, the AU delegation encountered resistance from the rebel leadership in Benghazi, who argued that the initiative was obsolete and insisted Kadhafi be forced to quit.
In Benghazi, rebel leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil said the African initiative did not go far enough.
"From the first day the demand of our people has been the ouster of Kadhafi and the fall of his regime," he said.
"Kadhafi and his sons must leave immediately if they want to be safe... Any initiative that does not include the people's demand, the popular demand, essential demand, we cannot possibly recognise."
The support came ahead of the opening of an international contact group meeting in Doha on Wednesday, where the rebels are seeking increased international recognition.
But a rift appeared to be opening between EU partners with Belgium expressing opposition to Italy's proposal and Germany insisting there could be "no military solution".
Italy wants the international community to consider arming the rebels under the UN resolution authorising the use of all means to defend civilians, the Italian foreign ministry spokesman said on the sidelines of the meeting.
But Belgium's foreign minister said his country was opposed and that arms were not covered by UN Security Council Resolution 1973.
"The discussion about arming the rebels is definitely on the table ... to defend themselves," Italy's Maurizio Massari said.
"The UN resolution ... does not forbid arming" the rebels fighting Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's forces, he told reporters, while adding that a decision was unlikely to be taken at the meeting in the Qatari capital.
"We need to provide the rebels all possible defensive means," he said, singling out communication and intelligence equipment.
However, Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere said: "The UN resolution speaks about protecting civilians, not arming them."
And German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said: "We will not see a military solution" in Libya, but stressed that Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi had to step down. "Germany is ready to support humanitarian action for the people of Libya."
NATO chief Anders Fogh Rassmussen agreed that a political settlement was the only solution.
"We hope this meeting can facilitate a political solution for the problem in Libya, and obviously there is no military solution so we have to initiate a political process," he said
British Foreign Secretary William Hague was upbeat about the meeting and said it would "strengthen" the pressure on Kadhafi to step down.
"It is impossible for anyone to see a viable future for Libya with Colonel Kadhafi in power," Hague told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting.
"Pressure for Kadhafi to go will increase at the meeting today. It will strengthen, not weaken," he said.
Hague also suggested that the meeting would look at setting up funding streams from Gulf states to help maintain services in the rebel-held east.
"One of the things we will look at today is a funding mechanism for those states that wish to provide funding to maintain basic services in the east of Libya, the opposition-held areas, so that life can go on," he told BBC radio.
"I wasn't suggesting that we will be donating to that mechanism but of course we're working here with countries that may well be doing so."
On the eve of the meeting, a spokesman for the rebel Transitional National Council said it would accept nothing short of the removal of Kadhafi and his sons from the country.
Mahmud Shammam, whose council is seeking international approval, stressed: "We want to move from the de facto recognition of the council to an internationally-recognised legitimacy."
Such recognition would pave the way for the TNC to receive billions of dollars of desperately needed Libyan funds frozen in the United States and Britain, and the right to obtain credit at sovereign rates.
The Libyan opposition's Transitional National Council will address the contact group as an alternative voice for Libya's people.
In London on March 29, the TNC was not permitted to attend the plenary session of an international ministerial conference on the crisis, although its envoys held bilateral talks with several world powers on the sidelines.
Since London, with Kadhafi continuing to defy NATO air strikes, the opposition council has gained support and recognition, notably from France, Italy and Qatar.
The African Union peace plan looked to be dead in the water after rebels dismissed a ceasefire out of hand.
Having managed to secure Kadhafi's agreement to a truce, the AU delegation encountered resistance from the rebel leadership in Benghazi, who argued that the initiative was obsolete and insisted Kadhafi be forced to quit.
In Benghazi, rebel leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil said the African initiative did not go far enough.
"From the first day the demand of our people has been the ouster of Kadhafi and the fall of his regime," he said.
"Kadhafi and his sons must leave immediately if they want to be safe... Any initiative that does not include the people's demand, the popular demand, essential demand, we cannot possibly recognise."
Tags:Doha., EU, Moamer Kadhafi, Guido Westerwelle., Maurizio Massari, UN Security Council Resolution, Anders Fogh Rassmussen.
