As Mideast roils, Al Jazeera finds its 'CNN moment' CORRECTED - NATO agrees Libya arms embargo plan, stuck on no-fly. * Plan still needs agreement on implementation * More discussions needed on no-fly zone (Corrects day in first paragraph) BRUSSELS, March 20 (Reuters) - NATO ambassadors approved an operations plan for the alliance to help enforce a U.N. arms embargo on Libya on Sunday, a NATO statement said. A NATO official said more discussion was needed on another plan for possible NATO involvement in enforcing a U.N. no-fly zone over Libya.
Alliance member Turkey, which has spoken against intervention in Libya, had earlier blocked agreement among the ambassadors, a NATO diplomat said. The envoys from the 28 NATO nations will have to meet again to agree to implement the plan for enforcing the arms embargo, which would involve use of alliance aircraft and ships to prevent weapons reaching Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces. Hosted2.ap. IA News: Libye: les événements depu... Libya Exclusive: Saif Gadhafi 'Surprised' By Coalition Attack. <br/><a href=" US News</a> | <a href=" Business News</a> Copy In an exclusive interview with ABC News "This Week" anchor Christiane Amanpour, Saif Gadhafi, son of Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi, expressed surprise at the Western coalition attack launched against Libya, and said that his father has no plans to step down from power. "Yesterday, we were surprised that ... the Americans and the British and the French attacked Libya, attacked five cities.
Terrorized people, and especially children, women, were so afraid yesterday," Saif Gadhafi said. "So it was big surprise that finally President Obama -- we thought he was a good man and friend of Arab world -- is bombing Libya. " He denied the Libyan government had continued attacks against resistance forces in Benghazi, telling Amanpour the city was controlled by "terrorists" and "armed militia" who are attacking civilians and the Libyan army.
"Step aside, why? " Libya Polling Looks Low for an Initial Military Operation. Libya: Will Gadhafi Hold on and Will It Be a Long War or a Limited Engagement? <br/><a href=" US News</a> | <a href=" Business News</a> Copy Here in London, the parliament is retroactively voting to authorize the military invention already underway in Libya. Meanwhile, there is a gap developing between Britain and the U.S. that bears watching.
The British defense secretary today said they could specifically target Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in these bombings, calling him a "legitimate target. " Concern for civilian casualties could be a factor that could dissuade them from that decision, he said. But Secretary Robert Gates, the U.S. secretary of defense, says no, targeting Gadhafi is not our aim. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Meanwhile, Gadhafi is promising a long war. But will he be able to sustain such defiance through a sustained, massive assault like the one this weekend? "Step aside, why? " Gadhafi 'Will Never Give Up' "It's like the WMD, the fiasco of WMD," Gadhafi said. Libya’s Transitional National Council is calling on International Community to take more forceful deterrent measures. Le dernier cessez-le-feu de Kadhafi a été "immédiatement violé" (USA) Libye: le régime annonce un nouveau cessez-le-feu. Les capacités de défense antiaérienne libyennes ont été "fortement endommagées" par les frappes de la coalition, permettant l'instauration "effective" de la zone d'exclusion aérienne, a déclaré dimanche un haut responsable du Pentagone.
Le régime du colonel Mouammar Kadhafi a annoncé un cessez-le-feu à partir de dimanche 19H00 GMT, en réponse à l'appel lancé samedi par l'Union africaine à "la cessation immédiate des hostilités", a déclaré un porte-parole de l'armée. "En respect du communiqué publié par le comité de l'Union africaine samedi à Nouakchott et des résolutions 1970 et 1973 de l'ONU, le commandement des forces armées a donné ses ordres pour un cessez-le-feu à partir de dimanche à 21H00" locale (19H00 GMT), a déclaré le porte-parole, Milad Fokehi.
Tripoli avait déjà annoncé vendredi un cessez-le-feu qu'elle n'a pas respecté, selon la communauté internationale qui a lancé samedi soir sa première opération militaire en Libye. Le calme règne dimanche dans Benghazi. Libye: Les F-16 belges ont accompli leur deuxième mission. International Les raids de la coalition internationale sur la banlieue est de Tripoli mercredi soir ont "visé un quartier résidentiel", faisant un "nombre important de morts parmi les civils", a rapporté l'agence officielle libyenne Jana.
"Les bombardements de l'agresseur colonialiste croisé dans la région de Tajoura à Tripoli ont pris pour cible un quartier résidentiel (...), faisant un nombre important de morts parmi les civils", a indiqué l'agence citant une source militaire. L'agence avait indiqué qu'un "troisième bombardement" de la coalition a "pris pour cible les sauveteurs qui était à l'oeuvre pour extraire les morts et blessés suite aux deux premiers raids sur un quartier résidentiel de la région" de Tajoura. Les sirènes d'ambulances étaient entendues mercredi soir depuis le centre de Tripoli et dans le quartier de Tajoura, selon des journalistes de l'AFP. 'Otan reste divisée sur la conduite des opérations Selon une autre source diplomatique, c'est la Turquie qui a bloqué.
LIVE: Libya Unrest MARCH 22, 2011 | LIVE: Libyan Unrest: Pentagon reports that 12 more cruise missiles fired at Libyan missile | New York Times Journalist Endured Sexual Assaults, Death Threats in Libya | Patrick Baz Is in His Element in Libya. Patrick Baz, 47, is the Middle East photo manager for Agence France-Presse, based in Cyprus. He has been covering the conflict in Libya since the end of February. His telephone conversation with Kerri MacDonald and David Furst on Monday night has been edited and condensed. How are you doing? I’m a bit stressed. Where are you? At my hotel in Benghazi. I chose this hotel because of the view. You mention the image with the crashing plane. I have to thank the mosque next to my room. Everybody was really scared that the tanks were getting too close. I pointed my camera and saw the jet in my lens. Patrick Baz/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesMarch 19. Believe me, when I looked at the pictures on the screen, my hands were shaking.
On my first edit, I didn’t see the pilot ejecting. That morning, we were saying, “We have too much luck.” Are you working with many others? It depends on the day. What has been the hardest thing for you, shooting in Libya? To try to understand what’s going on. Sorry. UPDATE 1-U.S. sees possible French, British lead on Libya. (Incorporates LIBYA-USA/GATES, adds context) ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT, March 20 (Reuters) - The United States sees several possibilities for future leadership of the campaign in Libya, but Arab allies are sensitive to operating under a NATO flag, U.S.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Sunday. "I think that there a couple of possibilities. One is British and French leadership. Another is the use of the NATO machinery," Gates said as he to flew to Russia. "I think there is a sensitivity on the part of the Arab League to being seen to be operating under a NATO umbrella. Gates also said a break-up of Libya would be a formula for instability, calling a partition (of government-held territory in the west and opposition forces in Libya's east) a formula for "enduring instability" in the region.
President Barack Obama's advisers unanimously supported his decision on the use of military force in Libya, Gates said, playing down any possible divisions within the administration . ‘They’re American. We can’t shoot them’ Journalists describe capture in Libya.