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France to step up airstrikes in Libya

PARIS — Europe moved closer to doing in Libya what it said it wouldn’t — directly jump into the bid to overthrow leader Moammar Gadhafi.
APTOPIX Mideast Libya
Libyan rebel fighters drive by a previously-destroyed pro-Gadhafi forces tank as they make their way to the frontline

PARIS — Europe moved closer to doing in Libya what it said it wouldn’t — directly jump into the bid to overthrow leader Moammar Gadhafi.

France said Wednesday it has already sent military officers to work with Libyan rebels on the ground, in addition to stepping up airstrikes. Italy and Britain have said they’re also sending military officers.

European officials portray their assistance as an effort to fill the military gap with Gadhafi’s forces — and turn the tide without overstepping rules of the U.N.-sanctioned military operation to protect civilians.

The acting foreign minister of the National Transitional Council said the rebel movement’s political wing wants more, like weapons for an “official army” and forces from friendly nations if that’s what it takes to topple the Libyan leader.

“We have made no official demand, (but) all possibilities are open,” Ali al-Issaoui said at a news conference.

The opposition council’s visiting president, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, said rebels have already received arms “but they are not sufficient.”

Hours earlier, President Nicolas Sarkozy said that France would step up its share of the NATO-led airstrikes aimed at knocking out Gadhafi’s military apparatus to protect civilians.

“We will help you,” Sarkozy promised the visiting Libyan opposition leader, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, who said he asked France “to intensify the support accorded to the Libyan revolution.”

“We will intensify the strikes,” Sarkozy responded, according to a presidential aide who was not authorized to be publicly named according to policy.

France also revealed it has already placed a handful of liaison officers in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

France agreed to place “a small number of liaison officers alongside our special envoy in Benghazi,” French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Christine Fages said in an online briefing Wednesday.

Italy, too, announced plans to send help — 10 military instructors — although Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa, like France, ruled out sending ground troops. Britain said Tuesday it was sending up to 20 military advisers to help Libya’s rebel forces.

In Washington, the Obama administration said Wednesday it plans to give the Libyan opposition $25 million in non-lethal assistance — the first direct U.S. aid to the rebels — after weeks of assessing their capabilities and intentions.

Washington ensured that the items, surplus American goods, cannot be converted into offensive military assets, officials said.

The aid would support the Transitional Council and “our efforts to protect civilians and the civilian populated areas that are under threat of attack from their own government in Libya,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said.

The list of aid, mainly from Pentagon stocks, is still being constituted but now covers items such as medical supplies, uniforms, boots, tents, personal protective gear, radios and Halal meals, officials said.

French government spokesman Francois Baroin suggested that less than 10 officers were serving in a liaison capacity in Libya and insisted the move conforms to the U.N. resolution authorizing the international military campaign in Libya.

A French diplomat said the French officers are not combat troops and are not teaching Libyan rebels weapons skills. Instead, he said, they are working on logistics and organizational help. He would not say how long the officers have been in Benghazi. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation.

France — the first to declare support for the Libyan opposition and carry out the first airstrikes — sent a diplomatic envoy to Benghazi earlier this month.

La Russa said that even if NATO has destroyed a lot of Gadhafi’s defence structure, “what remains is still superior to the insurgents’ capabilities.”

“They still have non-insignificant military capability,” La Russa said of Gadhafi’s forces.

La Russa met with British Defence Secretary Liam Fox, who said many of the Libyan rebels “have little understanding of weaponry or military tactics.”

“The best way in which we can assist them is to give them some technical capabilities in how to organize themselves,” Fox said.

The British minister said the situation was “not that different from what’s happening in Afghanistan, where we’ve decided that training up security forces so that the Afghans themselves can look after their security is the best way forward.”

Al-Issaoui, the opposition official, spelled out what he said is the human cost of the confrontation with Gadhafi’s forces: 10,000 dead, 30,000 injured, with 7,000 of them in serious condition, and 20,000 youths who have disappeared. He claimed they had been kidnapped or imprisoned.

In addition, refugees have fled to neighbouring Tunisia by the tens of thousands, with a surge in crossings over the past week, according to aid officials, as Libyan forces pound the west, particularly Misrata.

The Libyan people “must buy arms to assure their self-defence,” al-Issaoui said. “Airstrikes do not suffice to protect civilians.”

Abdel-Jalil, the opposition leader, said in an interview with France-24 TV that rebels have received arms “from purchases or from friends,” but would not name the friends supplying the arms. Asked if Qatar was among them, he said its role was “very limited.”

Qatar is the lone Arab country to actively participate in airstrikes.

If the U.N. resolution opening the way for the international military operation doesn’t lead to Gadhafi’s departure, “we could authorize the presence on Libyan territory of forces from Arab countries or friendly countries,” he said.

The statement was a major departure from the Libyan rebels’ position — to topple Gadhafi without outside help. But Gadhafi “is the one who brought foreign intervention to Libya by using these mercenaries,” he said, referring to mercenaries from other African nations found fighting with his forces.

The French government spokesman reiterated that France would “in no way and in no form” send ground troops to Libya.

Abdel-Jalil insisted that the ragtag rebel force and fledgling opposition governing council would respect international norms if they emerge victorious in their battle with Gadhafi, who has ruled Libya for 42 years.

“We will work to build a democratic state where the chief of state arrives in power not on a tank, but by a ballot box,” he said. “We are also committed to working to fight terrorism and stop illegal immigration.”

NATO’s top military commander, U.S. Navy Adm. James Stavridis, was in Prague for talks with Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg on Wednesday and Defence Minister Alexandr Vondra on Thursday. Stavridis’ visit comes as NATO is seeking military contributions from member states that have not participated in the campaign in Libya, like the Czech Republic.

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Cecile Brisson and Angela Charlton in Paris, Alessandra Rizzo in Rome, Matthew Lee in Washington and Karel Janicek in Prague contributed to this report.