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| Africa North |
| China urges political solution in Libya |
| 2011-04-01 |
| [Iran Press TV] China has urged immediate cessation of US-led military "Given the current situation, we believe that it is urgent to stop armed conflicts and solve the Libya crisis as soon as possible with peaceful means," Xinhua quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu as saying at a regular news briefing in Beijing on Thursday. The Chinese official stressed that Beijing supports the United Nations ... aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... , the African Union, the vaporous Arab League and other international and regional organizations in their efforts to come up with a political and diplomatic solution to the Libyan issue. Jiang Yu added, "We believe that the affairs and future of Libya should be decided by Libyans themselves." The remarks come as the top Vatican official in Libya says that at least 40 civilians have been killed following "The so-called humanitarian raids have killed dozens of civilian victims in some neighborhoods of Tripoli," the Apostolic Vicar of Tripoli, Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, said on Thursday. He added, "I have collected several witness accounts from reliable people. In particular, in the Buslim neighborhood, due to the bombardments, a civilian building collapsed, causing the death of 40 people." Libyan state TV has announced that at least 114 people, including several civilians, have been killed and 445 others injured in US-led aerial attacks in the oil-rich country. "From March 20 to March 23, the attacks have killed 114 people and injured 445 people," the network quoted Libyan Health Minister Khaled Omar as saying at a presser in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on Saturday. According to government figures, 104 people were killed in Tripoli, while another 10 civilians bit the dust in Sirte, the hometown of the Libyan ruler Muammar Qadaffy. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says some 351,600 people have decamped the crisis-hit Libya for fear of violence and around 1,500 to 2,000 are making their way to Egypt each day. According to US military officials, more than 350 aircraft are participating in the US-led campaign of military Apart from the United States, twelve countries from the European Union are taking part in Operation Odyssey Dawn, which began on March 19 after the UN Security Council imposed a no-fly zone over Libya to "protect civilians" from Qadaffy's attacks. The rising civilian corpse count in Libya has set off a frenzy of speculations about the real motive behind the war in the country with many analysts stating that under the guise of protecting civilians, as enshrined in the UN Security Council resolution 1973, Washington and its Western allies are basically after the North African country's vast oil reserves. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 What's in it for China? They don't get all that much oil from Libya ~ 150,000 b/d. There is a world market for oil and which particular country imports oil from which particular other country doesn't matter in the larger scheme of things. After its successful and massive evacuation of Chinese citizens from Libya, the PRC has gotten a little good PR from sounding responsibly diplomatic (unlike the US). |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2011-04-01 14:10 |
| #1 What's in it for China? They don't get all that much oil from Libya ~ 150,000 b/d. Libya only produces about 1.7 mb/d out of a daily requirement of 88 mb/d. Most of the Libyan oil goes to OECD countries in Europe. Call me jaded. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2011-04-01 13:36 |