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Africa North | ||||||
France, Italy step up efforts for Libyan rebels | ||||||
2011-04-20 | ||||||
Italy joined Britain in announcing their commitment of military instructors to train the rebels.
"France has placed a small number of liaison officers alongside our special envoy in (the rebel stronghold) Benghazi," French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Christine Fages said in an online briefing Wednesday. 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. France sent a diplomatic envoy to Benghazi earlier this month. French government spokesman Francois Baroin suggested less than 10 officers were involved and insisted the move conforms to the U.N. resolution authorizing the international military campaign in Libya.
"We will intensify the strikes," Sarkozy responded, according to a presidential aide. "We will help you," Sarkozy promised his Libyan visitor. A NATO official said there had been no pressure from France to increase allied strikes, but that France might increase its own contribution. The official was not authorized to be publicly named. In Rome, Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa said 10 military instructors will be going to Libya to help the rebels, but again ruled out sending Italian ground troops. La Russa spoke after meeting with British Defense Secretary Liam Fox, who said many of the Libyan rebels "have no military experience, they 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."
A spokesman for Libya's National Transitional Council, the political wing of the rebel movement, said Wednesday the military advisers would be a big help. "My understanding is that it will all be administrative help, nothing with weapons and nothing in the field," Mustafa Gheirani said.
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Posted by:Steve White |