ID :
165216
Wed, 03/02/2011 - 09:03
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Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/165216
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UK planning for ‘every eventuality’ in Libya : Cameron
London, March 2, IRNA – Prime Minister David Cameron said Tuesday that the UK 'must plan for every eventuality' in Libya and confirmed that discussions with opposition groups were underway.
'It is not acceptable to have a situation where Colonel Gaddafi can be murdering his own people using aeroplanes and helicopter gunships and the like and we have to plan now to make sure if that happens we can do something to stop it,” Cameron said.
'That's why I've said it's right for us to plan and look at plans for a no-fly zone, and that's why I've asked the chief of the defence staff to do,” he said when asked about the possible use of military action and arming opposition groups.
“We should also be making contact with opposition forces that are now in Benghazi and in control of quite a lot of the country. And we're trying to step up our contact with them so we can get to know them better,” he added.
Cameron said that he wanted to know what the opposition “intentions are” but that he did not think Britain should “go beyond that for now.”
The British prime minister was asked about Libya during a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is in London to discuss the latest plans for transition of security from Nato troops to local forces.
He said that he hoped the violent backlash to the uprisings in Libya will quickly come to an end, but that “our job is to look around the corner and plan for every eventuality.” Other allies in Nato and the US are doing exactly the same, he added.
Asked if the West would abandon opposition rebels as it did in Iraq after the war to liberate Kuwait in 1991, Cameron insisted: 'We mustn't let that happen in Libya.'
With regard to the effect of military cuts to Britain’s armed forces, he admitted that it was “difficult taking these decisions but it’s absolutely vital.”
Britain was modernising its armed forced otherwise it will “not be able to cope with the threats and the difficulties that a nation like Britain will face in the future,' the prime minister argued./end
'It is not acceptable to have a situation where Colonel Gaddafi can be murdering his own people using aeroplanes and helicopter gunships and the like and we have to plan now to make sure if that happens we can do something to stop it,” Cameron said.
'That's why I've said it's right for us to plan and look at plans for a no-fly zone, and that's why I've asked the chief of the defence staff to do,” he said when asked about the possible use of military action and arming opposition groups.
“We should also be making contact with opposition forces that are now in Benghazi and in control of quite a lot of the country. And we're trying to step up our contact with them so we can get to know them better,” he added.
Cameron said that he wanted to know what the opposition “intentions are” but that he did not think Britain should “go beyond that for now.”
The British prime minister was asked about Libya during a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is in London to discuss the latest plans for transition of security from Nato troops to local forces.
He said that he hoped the violent backlash to the uprisings in Libya will quickly come to an end, but that “our job is to look around the corner and plan for every eventuality.” Other allies in Nato and the US are doing exactly the same, he added.
Asked if the West would abandon opposition rebels as it did in Iraq after the war to liberate Kuwait in 1991, Cameron insisted: 'We mustn't let that happen in Libya.'
With regard to the effect of military cuts to Britain’s armed forces, he admitted that it was “difficult taking these decisions but it’s absolutely vital.”
Britain was modernising its armed forced otherwise it will “not be able to cope with the threats and the difficulties that a nation like Britain will face in the future,' the prime minister argued./end
