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NATO to bomb Libya in Ramadan if Qaddafi poses threat
BRUSSELS: NATO said on Tuesday it would keep bombing Libya even in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan if Muammar Qaddafis forces continued to threaten civilians, but it wanted a pragmatic solution to the war as soon as possible.We need to wait and see whether the Qaddafi forces continue to shell and inflict harm on the people of Libya, NATO military spokesman Wing Commander Mike Bracken said, when asked if the campaign would continue during Ramadan, which falls in August this year. If they do and we believe that there is risk to the lives of the Libyan people ... NATO would use the mandate it has to protect those lives. NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said the alliance hoped Qaddafis forces would end their attacks, not just in Ramadan, but immediately, and wanted to see progress at a meeting of the Contact Group on Libya on Friday in Istanbul. As weve said from the start, there has to be a political solution to this conflict and the sooner it comes, the better. The Contact Group can make a critical contribution to the search for a political solution which responds to the legitimate aspirations of the Libyan people, Lungescu said. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who will attend the meeting together with foreign ministers from Western and Arab governments and leaders of the Libyan opposition, hoped it would come up with realistic and pragmatic ideas, she said. Posted by: Steve White 2011-07-13 |
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