CF-18s expected to help enforce UN-sanctioned no-fly zone over Libya help

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CF-18s expected to help enforce UN-sanctioned no-fly zone over Libya


UNITED NATIONS — Canada is expected to take part in a UN-sanctioned mission to ground the Libyan air force and prevent it from attacking civilians as forces loyal to dictator Moammar Gadhafi continue to press rebel soldiers in the east of the strife-torn African nation.


Airstrikes against Gadhafi's forces were authorized to begin immediately after the United Nations Security Council narrowly approved a resolution late Thursday stating "all necessary measures" can be taken to protect Libyan civilians — short of a military occupation of the country.


The United States, Britain and France — backed by Arab countries — succeeded in pushing through the measure as key veto-bearing council members Russia and China abstained.


Also abstaining were India, Germany and Brazil — but with 10 votes in favour, the resolution achieved the necessary threshold of nine, with no vetoes, in the 15-member body.


"Today the Security Council has responded to the Libyan people's cry for help," said Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador the UN.


A source told the Ottawa Citizen Thursday night that six CF-18s originally tasked for a NATO patrol off Iceland have now been ordered to take part in the Libyan mission.


Germany, whose NATO allies are expected to lead airstrikes, warned of the danger of a "protracted military conflict."


"We should not enter a military confrontation on the optimistic assumption that quick results with few casualties will be achieved," said Peter Wittig, German ambassador to the UN.


He added that Germany would "not contribute" to any military effort.


The resolution passed just hours after Gadhafi, in a chilling radio address, warned rebels in their eastern stronghold of Benghazi that his forces were poised that night to enter the city, and that they would show "no mercy and no pity with them."


It was unclear how much of his threat was bluster since his forces remained involved in fighting on the road to Benghazi, but it nevertheless reflected the fact that the rebel cause has been on the defensive in recent days.


The resolution demands an immediate ceasefire while imposing a no-fly zone over Libya for Gadhafi's military aircraft, which struck Benghazi three times Thursday, according to reports.

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Attacks on Libyan air-defence systems are authorized by the wording "all necessary measures."


French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said ahead of the vote France sought immediate military action and had been, for the "past several days," working to pass the resolution.


A French diplomatic source quoted by Reuters in Paris said strikes could begin "within hours" in conjunction with the British and "one or more Arab countries" — thought to include Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Qatar.


U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during a visit to Tunisia Thursday that additional options under consideration included using drones and arming the rebel forces. She insisted that U.S. troops would not be directly involved in ground action.


The White House on Thursday claimed "leadership" of the drive to pass the resolution, provoking raised eyebrows among many diplomats, who noted that the United States had resisted openly backing the no-fly proposal until Wednesday.


Clinton said weekend approval by the Arab League of the no-fly proposal provided the turning point for Washington — even though the United States did not join France, Britain and Lebanon — the only Arab country on the council — in circulating the initial draft Tuesday.


France dispatched its foreign affairs minister, Alain Juppe, to New York to cast France's vote. In answering a question about when the first strike would come, he appeared to mention the United States only as an afterthought.


"We are working hand in hand with our friends the British; we are also in contact with the Arab countries (because) it is very important that there are Arab countries (involved) in the intervention when it takes place," Juppe told reporters. Then added: "Likewise for our friends the Americans."


The Pentagon cautioned shortly after the month-old Libyan rebellion began that U.S. forces are already stretched in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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In Washington Thursday, Undersecretary of State William Burns told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the United States supports measures "short of boots on the ground."


Addressing the same committee, U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz dispelled claims that the no-fly zone could be imposed within days, saying it would take "upwards of a week." The question remained whether the rebels could hold out for that long.


For the U.S., operations would involve deploying several types of aircraft, Schwartz said, including F-16s to attack ground radar and RC-135 Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft and Compass Call planes for jamming communications.


In a bid to attract support, the wording of the resolution placed emphasis on the need to protect civilians from "abuse" by Gadhafi's forces. But there was little doubt that grounding the Libyan air force could also give the rebels time to regroup and possibly regain the initiative.


To aid them, officials in Washington have spoken of possibly dispatching U.S. advisers to eastern Libya to help the rebels organize, following reports the anti-Gadhafi forces lack discipline.


"What we want is action on a variety of items that can improve the situation in Libya," Jay Carney, White House press spokesman, said Thursday.


France said in a communique Thursday that "several" Arab countries have pledged to participate in imposing a no-fly zone.

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Canada's CF-18s are expected to take part in a UN-sanctioned mission to ground the Libyan air force and prevent it from attacking civilians as forces loyal to dictator Moammar Gadhafi continue to press rebel soldiers in the east of the strife-torn African nation. (Here, two CF-18C Hornet aircraft fly off the coast near Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.)


The United Nations Security Council.


Libyan rebels load ammunition onto their vehicle in the eastern Libyan coastal town of Tobruk near the border with Egypt on March 16, 2011, as the forces of Libya's strongman Moamer Kadhafi pressed rebels in the west on and threatened their eastern bastion of Benghazi while UN chief Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate ceasefire.



A refugee who fled Libya waits for a bus to leave the Tunisian refugee camp of Choucha on March 16, as Libyan government forces advance. The UN could vote as soon as Thursday afternoon to impose a no-fly zone over the nation.



A Libyan rebel walks past a military position decorated with the rebellion flag at the southern entrance of the coastal city of Benghazi on March 15, 2011, as Libyan government forces assaulting the key city of Ajdabiya outflanked insurgents and cut the road north to the rebel capital of Benghazi, rebel sources said amid scenes of chaos in the town.