NATO, Europe pile pressure on Kadhafi regime
Catherine Ashton - Photo EC
(GODOLLO) - NATO and Europe piled pressure on Moamer Kadhafi's regime Friday, joining forces to rescue foreigners stranded in Libya while EU governments geared up to take part in a possible no-fly zone.
As the European Union moved towards imposing sanctions on Tripoli, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen met with EU defence ministers in Godollo, Hungary, to discuss the vast evacuation effort under way in the strife-torn country.
Rasmussen also convened a separate emergency meeting of the North Atlantic Council, the 28-nation alliance's decision-making body, for later in the day in Brussels.
"This is an international challenge and we have to discuss with each other which options we have to limit consequences of these events," he told a news conference in Godollo.
NATO ambassadors will discuss "possible options" and exchange information on the "fast-moving situation," he said, refusing to elaborate.
Asked if a military intervention was an option, Rasmussen said: "I don't want to go into specifics at this time. I think clear priority must be given to evacuation of people in need and maybe also humanitarian assistance."
Governments worldwide have been scrambling to evacuate tens of thousands of citizens stranded in Libya amid fears that a revolt against Kadhafi's regime will descend into all-out civil war.
Around 3,000 Europeans were still stranded in Libya after several EU countries deployed planes and ships to evacuate their citizens, according to EU officials.
NATO is ready to act as an "enabler and coordinator" to help alliance members with evacuations, Rasmussen said, calling the effort a "massive challenge."
After hundreds of Libyans died in a crackdown on democracy protesters, the EU has taken a careful approach on sanctions out of fears of retaliation against foreigners still stuck in Libya, officials said.
But as European defence ministers met in an 18th-century palace in the town of Godollo outside Budapest, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the 27-nation bloc was ready to impose sanctions on the Kadhafi regime.
"It's time to consider what we call restrictive measures, to think about what we can do to ensure we are putting as much pressure as possible to try and stop the violence in Libya and see the country move forward," Ashton said.
The measures being considered include an arms embargo, an assets freeze and a travel ban against the regime.
The EU wants to coordinate any action with international partners and is waiting for the UN Security Council, which meets later Friday, to act first.
Ashton said she had discussed Libya with UN chief Ban Ki-moon, and would speak with US Secretary Hillary Clinton on Friday before meeting with her in Geneva on Monday.
The chief EU diplomat said the United States and EU countries had discussed the possibility of imposing a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent Kadhafi forces from bombing protesters.
EU governments are making "contingency plans" to help police Libyan airspace but "the EU needs a UN Security Council resolution first," an EU diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
Although several officials said the option was on the table, Ashton said such a move was "extremely complicated to do" and needed to be "examined properly."
Rasmussen said NATO has not discussed the idea of a no-fly zone yet but he also stressed that a UN mandate would be needed first.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday that France and Italy would be best placed to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya. But French Defence Minister Alain Juppe said such action should be taken collectively.
The moves to isolate Kadhafi come eight years after the Libyan leader abandoned his weapons of mass destruction programme in 2003, which led to a normalisation of ties with the West.
"We brought him in from cold, we need to send him back to the cold," Ashton said.