Libyan Rebels: 'Nato Is Now Our Problem'

[JohnSmith2007 353]

Libyan Rebels: 'Nato Is Now Our Problem'

Libyan rebels have accused Nato of being too slow to act - and asked them to suspend operations unless they "do the job properly".

Rebel leader Abdel Fattah Younes has complained the alliance takes hours to respond to events on the battlefield because of an overly bureaucratic process.

He claimed the alliance's inaction was allowing Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's forces to advance and was letting them kill people in the rebel-held city of Misrata "everyday".

He said: "Nato is moving very slowly, allowing Gaddafi forces to advance. Nato has become our problem."

Mr Younes also said if Nato wanted to lift Col Gaddafi's weeks-long siege in Misrata, it could have done it weeks ago.

Nato took over from a coalition led by the United States, Britain and France on March 31.

It puts the alliance in charge of air strikes targeting Col Gaddafi's military infrastructure as well as policing a no-fly zone and an arms embargo.

Mr Younes said: "One official calls another and then from the official to the head of Nato and from the head of Nato to the field commander. This takes eight hours."

Meanwhile, Sky News has returned to Zawiyah - a town which saw a bloody uprising put down by Col Gaddafi's troops a few weeks ago.

Correspondent Stuart Ramsay discovered that the mosque which had been at the heart of the rebellion was razed to the ground.

In Tripoli, government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim appeared to admit for the first time that civilians had been killed during battles in Zawiyah.

But he blamed "armed militias" rather than Col Gaddafi's troops.

In another development, Abdelati Obeidi has been appointed the Libyan government's new foreign minister, replacing Musa Kusa who defected to Britain last week.

Mr Obeidi, who had served as deputy foreign minister, has been on a foreign tour to discuss solutions to the crisis.

Elsewhere in Libya, Nato forces have reportedly launched air strikes on government forces near the key oil town of Brega.

It came as David Cameron said there was no future for Libya while the dictator was still in charge.

The Prime Minister said: "How could there be when he's literally been trying to butcher his own people?"

Rebels said the troops' convoy of eight vehicles was hit early on Tuesday and two trucks mounted with machine guns were destroyed.

Both sides are battling for control of the key eastern port, which has changed hands several times.

Rebel attempts to fire rockets and mortars against government forces have been met with counter-attacks, sending rebel forces scrambling many miles east towards Ajdabiya.

Opposition fighters have been asking the coalition to assist them with bombardments against the dictator's troops for days.

Sky's Sam Kiley, in Ajdabiya, said: "The fact that there have been some air strikes, we believe, should be very encouraging to them (the rebels).

"(The rebels) are very anxious to take the oil terminal at Brega so they can begin to export oil through an arrangement with Qatar."

Meanwhile, Col Gaddafi's regime planned to put down protests by killing civilians before the uprising began, the International Criminal Court believes.

Anti-Libyan government demonstrations which started in February soon descended into civil war after the dictator's forces opened fire on protesters.

Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo is to report back to the UN on May 4, and is then expected to request arrest warrants.

He said: "We have evidence that after the Tunisia and Egypt conflicts in January, people in the regime were planning how to control demonstrations inside Libya.

"They were hiding that from people outside and they were planning how to manage the crowds.

"The evidence we have is that the shooting of civilians was a pre-determined plan."

He added: "The planning at the beginning was to use tear gas and (if that failed to work) shooting."

The Libyan regime has said it is ready to discuss reforms to its political system, but insists that Col Gaddafi must be allowed to stay in the country.

Nato says its aerial onslaught has destroyed 30% of Libya's military weapons. The alliance's warplanes have flown 851 sorties since taking command of UN-backed military action last week.

Meanwhile, an oil tanker has arrived at a rebel-held eastern port in Tobruk, where it is expected to be loaded for the first time in nearly three weeks.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Video-Libya-Rebels-Accuse-Nato-Of-Being-Too-Slow-To-Act/Article/201104115966111?lpos=World_News_Carousel_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15966111_Video%2C_Libya%3A_Rebels_Accuse_Nato_Of_Being_Too_Slow_To_Act

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

And where is the Arab League...nowhere to be found as usual.

[sandinista! 1,816]

WTH does the Arab League have to do with anything here? They asked for a no fly zone, and instead get an inept, bloated, bureaucratic NATO, whose thumb twiddling hemming and hawing is leading to even more civilian bloodshed. Its like trying to paint yr house, and yr neighbor comes over uninvited and insists on helping you, and all they do is spill paint all over the place and get in yr way of trying to get the damn job done, making the whole thing take hours longer than if they'd just stayed home and minded their own damn business in the first place.

[SMR 368]

WTH does the Arab League have to do with anything here? They asked for a no fly zone, and instead get an inept, bloated, bureaucratic NATO, whose thumb twiddling hemming and hawing is leading to even more civilian bloodshed. Its like trying to paint yr house, and yr neighbor comes over uninvited and insists on helping you, and all they do is spill paint all over the place and get in yr way of trying to get the damn job done, making the whole thing take hours longer than if they'd just stayed home and minded their own damn business in the first place.

I fail to see the parallels. It's not as if the rebels had the ability to establish their own no fly zone. This is more like your house being on fire and complaining because the firefighters aren't fighting the fire the way you think they should. You may have valid points, but you certainly wouldn't be better off if they stayed home. You simply aren't equipped to fight the fire on your own.

I realize that NATO is likely a bureaucratic mess as the rebels are implying and I'm not really trying to defend the inefficiency. But it seems to me that the rebels are taking the stance of do it our way or get out. That's reasonable when you need a paint job but not so much when your house is on fire.

On a side note, I think that NATO should go home. Here's to hoping the rebels get what they are asking for.

As far as the Arab League, the point is that if they want to dictate how the fire is fought, they should send their own firefighters. So far I haven't seen any.

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

WTH does the Arab League have to do with anything here? They asked for a no fly zone, and instead get an inept, bloated, bureaucratic NATO, whose thumb twiddling hemming and hawing is leading to even more civilian bloodshed. Its like trying to paint yr house, and yr neighbor comes over uninvited and insists on helping you, and all they do is spill paint all over the place and get in yr way of trying to get the damn job done, making the whole thing take hours longer than if they'd just stayed home and minded their own damn business in the first place.

i agree - nato shoulda stayed home and out of the way.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

It seems that NATO has been reduced by 0bama to a derisive definition used by Israel (to describe India's poor after-reaction of 2008/11/26) "No Action Talk Only".

[Obama 2012 1,714]

NATO is a joke. The UN is a joke.

Abolish them all, and the world will be a better place.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

It seems that NATO has been reduced by 0bama to a derisive definition used by Israel (to describe India's poor after-reaction of 2008/11/26) "No Action Talk Only".

Bush beat him to it when he along with other NATO members p*ssied out in regards to bringing Georgia and Ukraine into NATO. Tsar Putin did Bush like a $20 crack h0.

[Ironman140 45]

NATO is a joke. The UN is a joke.

Abolish them all, and the world will be a better place.

Think it's bad now .. Wait until they control health care

[faust-yusov 103]

One wonders how seriously we ought to take any statement from a presumed "rebel leader" (a title which in itself betrays the frankly amorphous ideology and personnel of the Libyan uprising en masse), let alone begin to reconsider our strategy in this unsanctioned, ill-defined yet somehow tacitly accepted "alliance".

Our mandate was to prevent the merciless siege of a city of 700,000 people, not to propagate civil war, nor strengthen the agglomerate revolt of everyone with a bone to pick with Gaddafi. The rebels need to learn that we are not on their "side", and for that to happen we need to stop pretending (illegally) that we are.

The next logical step for the coalition, if we are to take seriously our UN remit and stated objectives, is to structure the most effective refugee corridoor out of Libya for civilians wishing to escape the conflict.

Edited April 6, 2011 by faust-yusov

[The Dude 206]

Think it's bad now .. Wait until they control health care

Nato and the UN are going to control healthcare?

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

One wonders how seriously we ought to take any statement from a presumed "rebel leader" (a title which in itself betrays the frankly amorphous ideology and personnel of the Libyan uprising en masse), let alone begin to reconsider our strategy in this unsanctioned, ill-defined yet somehow tacitly accepted "alliance".

Our mandate was to prevent the merciless siege of a city of 700,000 people, not to propagate civil war, nor strengthen the agglomerate revolt of everyone with a bone to pick with Gaddafi. The rebels need to learn that we are not on their "side", and for that to happen we need to stop pretending (illegally) that we are.

The next logical step for the coalition, if we are to take seriously our UN remit and stated objectives, is to structure the most effective refugee corridoor out of Libya for civilians wishing to escape the conflict.

They have a safe corridor right into Egypt...so that problem is solved. The Arab League should be dealing with this anyways, not NATO.

Edited April 6, 2011 by Why_Me

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Nato and the UN are going to control healthcare?

You didn't hear about that?

it's ok.... neither did I.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

NATO is a joke. The UN is a joke.

Abolish them all, and the world will be a better place.

Oh boy...

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Oh boy...

Hey fishboy! Until you Brits put up more money in support of the UN, then back down!