10 March 2011

U.S. Wants Active Arab, African Participation in Libya Response

By Stephen Kaufman
Staff Writer

Washington — The Obama administration wants to see active regional participation in any potential military response to the political violence in Libya, and also says it has been in direct contact with a variety of opposition groups that have de facto control over much of the eastern part of the country.

National Security Advisor Tom Donilon told reporters in a March 10 conference call that any military action by NATO, such as the enforcement of a no-fly zone, “would need to respond to a demonstrable need and have a sound legal basis.”

Many nations besides the United States have interests in what is occurring in Libya, he said, and it is important for there to be international support behind the decisions that will be made going forward.

“We’re going to be seeking actual support by those nations of the Arab League, the [Gulf Cooperation Council] and the African nations to participate in any of these efforts,” Donilon said. “Not just rhetorical support but actual participation, which we think is absolutely critical for a variety of reasons,” he added.

Donilon said the Obama administration has been in direct contact with Libyan opposition groups “through a variety of channels, in an intensive way.” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will be meeting with opposition representatives during her March 15–17 visit to the region, he added.

“We’re coordinating directly with them to provide assistance and determine the best ways we can support their aspirations and understand their leadership structures right and their intention. We want to hear from them about the situation on the ground, what their plans are, what their recommendations are,” Donilon said, adding that the United States is also prepared to send diplomats to Benghazi to engage the Libyan opposition.

Donilon said the Obama administration is suspending Libya’s embassy in the United States and is no longer accepting diplomats representing Colonel Muammar Qadhafi in Washington. He also said that $32 billion in Qadhafi regime assets have been seized as a result of U.S. unilateral sanctions imposed February 25, and the funds are being held in escrow for Libya’s future.

“As a new government, a more representative government, emerges in Libya, ultimately, this ought to be a very important corpus of assets to give the new Libyan leadership a leg up on its path forward,” he said.

Donilon said the United States and the international community will also ensure that members of the Qadhafi regime are held accountable for the violence they have inflicted on their own people, pointing out that U.N. Security Council Resolution 1970, which was passed February 26, refers regime members to the International Criminal Court for probes of human rights violations. The United States has been using its intelligence assets to monitor Libyan activities, and it intends to expand its list of regime officials who could face sanctions or criminal charges, he said.

“Those individuals around Qadhafi who are taking orders from Qadhafi and executing his plans need to think very carefully about this. They need to think about what they’re doing to their fellow citizens, and they need to think about what the consequences are. Walking away now versus participating is the difference between the international community pursuing them to justice, and all the way, and a different future,” Donilon said.

MORE U.S. HUMANITARIAN AID ANNOUNCED

The State Department announced that the Obama administration is giving an additional $17 million to fund humanitarian assistance for “conflict victims, vulnerable migrants, and others displaced by the increasing civil unrest in Libya,” bringing the total amount of U.S. assistance to $47 million.

According to a March 10 fact sheet, the new funds include a $10 million contribution to the U.N. World Food Programme’s emergency food operations, $2 million to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in response to a U.N. regional flash appeal and $5 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

U.S. military aircraft have also flown nearly 800 Egyptian nationals who had left Libya from Tunisia to Egypt, and have delivered emergency relief commodities to the Tunisian Red Crescent, the fact sheet said.

In his comments, Donilon said the U.S. Agency for International Development also has deployed a disaster assistance response team to eastern Libya to assess the humanitarian situation there, identify what assistance is most urgently needed and help coordinate the international response.

“This is focused on providing the kind of assessment you need to ensure that the most effective humanitarian assistance that could be provided by the United States and by the international community is being delivered,” he said.

NATO INCREASING NAVAL PRESENCE IN MEDITERRANEAN

Following the meeting of defense ministers from NATO countries in Brussels March 10, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced the alliance is ready to support international efforts on Libya and is increasing its naval presence in the central Mediterranean Sea.

“These ships will improve NATO’s situational awareness, which is vital in the current circumstances, and they will contribute to our surveillance and monitoring capability, including with regard to the arms embargo established by the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1970,” Rasmussen said in a news conference.

The defense ministers, including U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, also discussed the possibility of a no-fly zone and agreed that further planning would be required if NATO receives a clear mandate from the United Nations to implement one.

Rasmussen said all alliance members “have agreed to three principles, which will act as a guide for any future considerations or actions regarding Libya: demonstrable need, a clear legal mandate and solid support from the region.”

Regional support is “crucial” and is needed to ensure that any NATO actions “are seen as helping the situation and the democratic movement that is sweeping the region,” he said.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)