Stop NATO (from: http://williambowles.info/2011/05/17/stop-nato-updates-on-libyan-war-17-may-2011/)
- Libyan War: Almost 7,000 NATO Military Flights, Over 2,700 Combat Missions
- China Presses For Immediate Ceasefire In Libya
- Russia: Libyan War First Litmus Test For NATO’s New Strategic Concept
- Russian Foreign Minister: West Oversteps UN Resolution In Libya
- The Real Reasons For NATO’s Attack On Libya
Libyan War: Almost 7,000 NATO Military Flights, Over 2,700 Combat Missions
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Over the past 24 hours, NATO has conducted the following activities associated with Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR:
Air Operations
Since the beginning of the NATO operation (31 March 2011, 08.00GMT) a total of 6944 sorties, including 2702 strike sorties have been conducted.
Sorties conducted 16 May: 136
Strike sorties conducted 16 May: 46
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Arms Embargo Activities
A total of 21 ships under NATO command are actively patrolling the Central Mediterranean.
5 Vessels were hailed on 16 May to determine destination and cargo. No boarding (no diversion) was conducted.
A total of 941 vessels have been hailed, 40 boardings and 5 diversions have been conducted since the beginning of arms embargo operations.
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China Presses For Immediate Ceasefire In Libya
Xinhua News Agency
May 17, 2011
China calls for immediate ceasefire in Libya
BEIJING: China on Tuesday called for an immediate ceasefire in Libya, saying that the future of the North African country should be decided by its own people.
“We are keeping a close watch on the situation in Libya, and once again call on relevant parties to cease fire immediately and solve the current crisis through peaceful means, such as negotiations and dialogue,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu at a regular news briefing.
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Russian Foreign Minister: West Oversteps UN Resolution In Libya
Voice of Russia
May 17, 2011
Coalition oversteps UN mandate in Libya – Moscow
At a session in Cairo Sunday, the foreign ministers of the Arab League agreed to ask the Saudi-based Arabsat satellite operators to block the signals of all government-owned broadcasting organizations in Libya.
Russia sees this as deliberate trouble-stirring which has no justification in international law.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke about this in Moscow Monday:
“I am at a loss over how my esteemed colleagues in the Arab League could have interpreted Security Council resolution 1973 as a go-ahead to start stifling freedom of speech. I am not taking sides in the civil war that is the Libyan conflict and believe the family of nations must safeguard the freedom of expression and seize on every opportunity to hear from all Libyan quarters.”
At a scheduled meeting with the visiting UN envoy for Libya Abdelilah al-Khatyb, Russian diplomats are going to tell him that the anti-Gaddafi coalition cannot be allowed to overstep its UN mandate for the Libya campaign and should also speed up action on the UN initiative for a humanitarian truce in the Libya war.
On Tuesday, Moscow will also host discussions with delegates from Muammar Gaddafi. Talks with the Benghazi-based rebels will have to wait until they have a logistical opportunity to send a delegation to Moscow.
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On Sunday, the chief British military officer General David Richards urged the coalition to widen its menu of targets in Libya, so that Gaddafi has no option but to leave his post and go. Apparently, compliance with the UN resolutions to protect Libyan civilians was not on the general’s mind.
Many international analysts have gone as far as to suggest that the Libya crisis may prompt further moves to reshape the permanent membership of the UN Security Council.
