#News #Arab NATO hits radar at Tripoli's civilian airport: NATO warplanes destroyed the rada...http://bit.ly/o27YYZ #Tripoli #Libya #US
#Libya The current time in Tripoli is 7:45 PM on Monday, 18 July 2011
NATO warplanes destroyed the radar antenna at Tripoli International Airport on Monday, the alliance said, claiming the system was being used for military purposes by Moammar Gadhafi's regime NATO hits radar at Tripoli's civilian airport
NATO hits radar at Tripoli's civilian airport July 18, 12:41 pm BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO warplanes destroyed the radar antenna at Tripoli International Airport on Monday, the alliance said, claiming the system was being used for military purposes by Moammar Gadhafi's regime. A statement said the air traffic control radar at the civilian airport was tracking NATO jets and the providing information to Libyan air defenses. "The antenna, which was previously used for civilian air traffic control, was being used by pro-Gadhafi forces to track NATO air assets in the airspace over Tripoli and to coordinate their own air defense early warning system," the statement said. NATO, which has bombed dozens of military radar sites in the four-month war, said the no-fly zone over Libya made it unnecessary to use the radar for civilian purposes. NATO, which has no ground forces in Libya, does not say whether its air raids result in casualties. The alliance has been criticized repeatedly for allegedly overstepping the limited U.N. Security Council mandate that allowed it to launch the airstrikes against Gadhafi's forces. The council imposed a ban on all flights and approved the use of "all measures" to prevent attacks on civilians. Because of technical limitations, it is difficult to convert civilian radar to target aircraft in the same way as military radars. But civilian radar can be used to monitor the airspace and provide general information on the speed and altitude of intruders. A NATO official argued this made the antenna a legitimate military target.
