Following U.N. Vote, France Vows Libya Action ‘Soon’

The pledge came from the Libyan foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, even as western powers said they were readying warplanes for imminent action to enforce the Security Council resolution. It was unclear what effect a ceasefire, if honored, might have on the international mobilization.

At a news conference in Tripoli, Mr. Koussa said Libya accepted the resolution, which included a call for a ceasefire. He registered “sadness” that the resolution included such measures as the no-flight zone and “will have a general impact on the life of the Libyan people.”

Before the announcement, French and British officials said Friday that military action would start soon in an attempt to contain forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi as they threaten a final assault on the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

In London, Prime Minister David Cameron told Parliament that Britain, a leading backer of the no-flight resolution, had begun the preparations to deploy Tornado and Typhoon warplanes along with aerial refueling and surveillance aircraft. He said the planes would move “in the coming hours” to bases where they could start implementing the no-flight zone.

“This is about protecting the Libyan people and saving lives,” Mr. Cameron said. “The world has watched Qaddafi brutally crushing his own people. We expect brutal attacks. Qaddafi is preparing for a violent assault on Benghazi.”

“Any decision to put the men and women of our armed forces into harm’s way should only be taken when absolutely necessary,” he said. “But I believe that we cannot stand back and let a dictator whose people have rejected him kill his people indiscriminately. To do so would send a chilling signal to others.”

“The clock is now ticking,” Mr. Cameron said. “We need a sense of urgency because we don’t want to see a bloodbath in Benghazi.” When criticized for getting British militarily involved, Mr. Cameron retorted: “To pass a resolution like this and then just stand back and hope someone in the region would enforce it is wrong," he said.

Mr. Cameron added that he would attend a meeting in Paris on Saturday with President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Arab leaders, but his indicated that a statement would be issued before then “to tell Qaddafi what is expected” — although the Libyan leader had already signaled hostile intentions towards his adversaries in Benghazi.

“We will come house by house, room by room. It’s over. The issue has been decided,” Colonel Qaddafi said on a radio call-in show before the United Nations vote, in which he repeated an offer of amnesty to those who laid down their arms. To those who continued to resist, he vowed: “We will find you in your closets. We will have no mercy and no pity.”

In a television broadcast later, he added: “This is craziness, madness. The world is crazy and we will be crazy, too.”

Amr Moussa, the Secretary General of the Arab League, which had supported the idea of a no-flight zone, told Reuters on Friday: “‘The goal is to protect civilians first of all, and not to invade or occupy.”

Before Mr. Koussa’s announcement, forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi unleashed a barrage of fire against the rebel-held town of Misurata in the west of the country, news reports said, while one of the colonel’s sons, Seif al-Islam, was quoted as saying government forces would encircle the rebel stronghold of Benghazi in the east. Eurocontrol, Europe’s air traffic control agency, said in Brussels on Friday that Libya had closed its airspace. It was not immediately clear whether loyalist troops had begun honoring the cease-fire.

François Baroin, a French government spokesman, had told RTL radio that airstrikes would come “rapidly,” perhaps within hours, after the United Nations resolution late Thursday authorizing “all necessary measures” to impose a no-flight zone.

But he insisted the military action “is not an occupation of Libyan territory.” Rather, it was designed to protect the Libyan people and “allow them to go all the way in their drive, which means bringing down the Qaddafi regime.”

The Security Council vote seemed to have divided Europeans, with Germany saying it would not participate while Norway was reported as saying it would. In the region, Turkey was reported to have registered opposition, but Qatar said it would support the operation. In Tripoli, government minders in Tripoli told journalists on Friday that they could not leave their hotel for their own safety, saying that in the aftermath of the United Nations vote, residents might attack or even shoot foreigners. The extent of the danger was unclear.

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David D. Kirkpatrick reported from Tripoli and Alan Cowell from Paris. Reporting was contributed by Dan Bilefsky from the United Nations; Mark Landler from Washington; Kareem Fahim from Tobruk, Libya; Steven Erlanger from Paris; Julia Werdigier from London; Helene Cooper and Elisabeth Bumiller from Washington; and Steven Lee Myers from Tunis.

via nytimes.com