Following harsh criticism of the strikes, the government asked parliament to approve the dispatch of military forces, pledging a submarine, four frigates and an auxiliary ship to a NATO patrol mission to enforce a UN arms embargo against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

It obtained a one-year authorisation for deployment as part of “multi-dimensional contributions to international efforts aimed at restoring stability and security in Libya”, according to the motion parliament approved.

The vote was held in a closed session by a show of hands, with some opposition deputies also lending support to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), parliamentary sources said.

Analysts however said the government, influenced by Islamist sympathies, fell out of pace with NATO allies while resisting military action against Libya even though its participation was “inevitable”.

“Turkey was confused and was late… Joining the game was inevitable. It could not have stood against its NATO allies,” foreign policy commentator Semih Idiz said.

Turkey, NATO’s sole predominantly Muslim member and a key regional player, has slammed the air strikes, led by France, Britain and the United States, ruling out any combat mission and vowing to “never point a gun at the Libyan people”.

But with the approval of the naval mission “Turkey will have effectively joined the military operation: if the soldiers are fired on, they will respond”, Mr Idiz said.

Turkey’s navy chief said two Turkish vessels were already at sea in the Mediterranean and the remaining four others had left their ports on Wednesday, heading to the zone of operation.
herald sun

Heading up the new government as an interim prime minister is Mahmoud Jibril, who had been working as a representative to foreign powers.

He is best known on the international stage for meeting Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, which led to France diplomatically recognising the rebels’ transitional council as the sole representative of the Libyan people.

Opposition spokesman Nisan Gouriani told Al Jazeera: “The provisional national council is a legislative body, but we need an executive body to take control and provide an administration.”

He said the rebels’ “position has been very clear from the beginning – that Libya is one unit”.

“Our capital is Tripoli and will forever be Tripoli,” he said. “We are striving to liberate the western parts of the country, and Tripoli, and keep the country united. We would like to emphasise this over and over again.”

The rebels had been wary of calling their nascent administration in their Benghazi stronghold an interim government seemingly cautious of signifying a split in the country.

“But they remain committed to one Libya,” said Al Jazeera’s James Bays, reporting from Benghazi. “They want the people of Libya to remain united, just without Gaddafi.”

‘Real heroes’

Meanwhile, fierce fighting continued on Wednesday with forces loyal to Gaddafi attacking rebel positions across the north African state.

Undaunted by air strikes launched by coalition warplanes aimed at enforcing a no-fly zone, pro-Gaddafi forces pressed ahead with their assaults on the towns of Misurata, Ajdabiya and Zintan in the past 24 hours.

Pro-democracy fighters ranged against Gaddafi are finding the going tough.

Mostly outgunned and with little command structure, they have been left to run sporadic raids against Gaddafi’s troops, before falling back to their original lines.

But despite the little headway made by them, a rebel commander described the men as “real heroes”.

“They are brave to the point of being suicidal,” Mohamed Hariri told Al Jazeera.

‘Ready for battle’

Amid raging fighting, Gaddafi insisted he was “ready for battle, be it long or short”.

“We will win this battle,” he said in an address during a public appearance at his Bab Al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli that was the target on Sunday of a coalition missile strike, Libyan state television reported.

He also railed against the coalition forces, saying: “This assault … is by a bunch of fascists who will end up in the dustbin of history.”

Overnight fighting left 14 people dead and 23 injured in Misurata, pro-democracy fighters told Al Jazeera’s James Bays.

“Gaddafi’s forces have now taken over hospital in the town, and positioned snipers on the roof and tanks outside,” said our correspondent.

“The rebels are calling for a hospital ship to be sent in, as they still control the port, and say that would save many lives, as they now have nowhere to take their injured.

“More civilian deaths have been reported in Ajdabiya and elsewhere, and they are calling on international powers to interpret the UN resolution more widely to support them with further attacks against Gaddafi’s troops.”

The no-fly zone is intended to protect civilians from attack by forces loyal to Gaddafi. The United States announced on Tuesday that it is shifting its focus to widen the no-fly zone across the north African country.

Al Jazeera

The source of the explosions was not immediately clear, but the gunfire appeared to signal a fourth night of U.S. and European air operations over Libya on Tuesday to enforce a no-fly zone.

In the previous night’s operations, the coalition air campaign suffered its first loss with the crash of an American fighter jet in the rebel-held east. Both crew ejected safely as the aircraft spun from the sky.

The no-fly zone is intended to protect civilians from attack by forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi in their battles with rebel fighters. The uprising against Gadhafi’s four-decade rule began Feb. 15.
Chron

The Mirage 2000 jets and the C-17 cargo aircraft made an unscheduled stop at Cyprus’ Larnaca airport, and a Cyprus civil aviation official told the Associated Press that they left after refueling en route to Souda base in Crete. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

High winds had forced the three planes to land at Larnaca for refueling, said another who spoke on condition of anonymity because of department policy.

Greece has granted permission for six Mirage fighters and two transport planes to operate from the base, said Lt. Col. Constantinos Bouzos, a Greek military spokesman. He did not know when all the planes would arrive on Crete.

Cypriot authorities initially refused the request by Qatar’s planes to land, but later granted permission after the pilots declared a fuel emergency per international regulations, Cyprus government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said.

RAF Akrotiri, one of two British military bases on Cyprus’ southern coast, is hosting VC-10, RAF E3D and Sentinel surveillance aircraft which also provide refueling capability to help enforce the U.N.-sanctioned no-fly zone.

Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias has said the government does not condone any military action in Libya and is not taking part. He also expressed disapproval to the British government over use of the base for military action, but acknowledged Britain does not need permission from Cyprus.

The head of the Gulf states’ main political bloc on Monday emphasized the commitment of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to the international military coalition striking Libya but stressed the mission seeks only to protect civilians. The UAE has said it is providing only humanitarian aid.

The reaffirmation of the Gulf states’ backing for the multinational force followed criticism by the Arab League’s chief over the heavy missile barrages by U.S. and European forces against Libyan air defenses, tanks and other targets.

Qatari officials have said its planes will take part in enforcing the no-fly zone but have not provided specifics on their contribution to the effort.msnbc

Photo: A Qatar Emiri Air Force Dassault Mirage 2000-5EDA fighter jet prepares for takeoff from Larnaca international airport, Cyprus, Tuesday, March 22, 2011. Two Qatar Air Force fighter jets and a C-17 Globemaster cargo aircraft were heading to Crete Tuesday in the first sign of military operations by Qatar so far to help enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, officials said. The planes made an unscheduled stop at the island’s Larnaca airport, and government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said in a statement that the aircraft would depart after refueling. (AP Photo/Christos Thedorides)

But the firepower of more than 130 Tomahawk cruise missiles and attacks by allied warplanes have not yet succeeded in accomplishing the more ambitious demands by the United States — repeated by President Obama in a letter to Congress on Monday — that Colonel Qaddafi withdraw his forces from embattled cities and cease all attacks against civilians.

Libyan government forces continued to engage in scattered fighting on Monday, defying the United Nations resolutions authorizing the allied strikes. The resolution demands an immediate cease-fire by Colonel Qaddafi’s forces and an end to attacks on civilians. Read more…
NYT

The pilot of the F-15E fighter jet was rescued by rebel soldiers after ejecting from the aircraft, it is understood. Another crew member is also thought to have ejected.

The crashed plane was discovered by a Telegraph journalist reporting in and around Benghazi, the rebel-held city.

It is thought the F-15E fighter jet came to ground after suffering a mechanical failure.

The US military confirmed that one of its jets had crash landed. Vince Crawley, a spokesman for the U.S. military’s Africa Command, said that one crewman had been recovered and one was “in process of recovery”.

Crawley said the crash occurred “overnight.” He declined to give the location of the crash and also would not say how the rescued crewman was picked up.

This is the first coalition aircraft to have crash landed during the Libyan conflict following the third night of air strikes.

The F-15E Strike Eagle is described by Boeing, its manufacturer, as “a superior next generation multi-role strike fighter”.

It is the backbone of the US Air Force (USAF) and made its first flight in 1986.

The latest advanced avionics systems gives the Strike Eagle the capability to “perform air-to-air or air-to-surface missions at all altitudes, day or night, in any weather”, Boeing boasts.

In April 2001, Boeing received a contract for a further ten F-15E aircraft for the USAF, bringing the total to 227.

The first production model of the F-15E was delivered to the US military in April 1988. The ‘Strike Eagle’, as it was dubbed, and first saw active service the following year.

Its maximum speed is twice the speed of sound and it has a digital threat warning system. Its 23,000lb arsenal includes air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons.

The planes are expected to be safe for operational used until at least 2035.

Since 2001 USAF F-15E aircraft have been almost exclusively used for close air support.

In addition to the United States, Korea and Singapore, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Israeli forces also have F15s.

Click here for more pics on the crash telegraph

The organisation’s 22 member states (although Libya has been suspended since last month) have consistently dithered over internal politics since the group was established more than 60 years ago.

In fact, the league’s twice-yearly meetings now achieve so little that they have become a joke among ordinary Arabs.

It was created with loftier aims. Established in 1945 – and encouraged by Britain – the league was supposed to give Arab states a sense of unity. But in reality, the organisation has been crippled by internal divisions from day one.

During the Cold War, pro-Western countries such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Morocco made unhappy bedfellows with revolutionary, anti-Western regimes such as Egypt, Libya and Syria.

Egypt, the most populous Arab country, was expelled for a decade after it made peace with Israel in 1979, whereupon the league’s headquarters shifted from Cairo to Tunis.
They only moved back again following Egypt’s reintegration to the league a decade later.

America’s wars in the region – the 1991 Gulf War with Iraq and the subsequent invasion of the country in 2003 – further deepened divisions among member states, scuppering all attempts at forging a co-ordinated Arab response to them.

While some league members – including Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain – offered the U.S. facilities for the invasion, Syria voiced its strong disapproval.

Nothing better demonstrates the league’s ineffectiveness, though, than the fact that its most memorable episodes have involved not solid policy decisions but spontaneous outbursts by the more unpredictable leaders of its members states.

In 2002, a live television broadcast was cut after Colonel Gaddafi launched a tirade against Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, accusing him of being a Western stooge.

The normally reticent Saudi king shot back that everyone in the Arab world knew that it was the CIA who had brought Gaddafi himself to power, finally spitting out: ‘Your grave awaits you.’

Moving from the sublime to the ridiculous, following Venezuela’s decision to expel Israeli diplomats during the 2008-2009 Gaza War, a prominent Kuwaiti member of parliament suggested that the league’s headquarters be moved to Caracas.

And following a bitter tit-for-tat spat between Egypt and Algeria after a 2010 World Cup football play-off, the Arab League asked Gaddafi to step in and mediate between the two countries following violent attacks on fans from each side.

In recent weeks, the Arab League’s initial support for military action against Libya appeared to be a rare display of solidarity.

A vote on the issue last week was supported by every single member state bar Algeria and Syria.

But the declaration on Sunday by the league’s secretary-general, Amr Moussa, showed that yet again they’re splintering. The league had wanted the protection of civilians, Moussa said sternly, not the bombardment of civilians.

This perhaps has more to do with his personal agenda, however, because he has recently announced that he will be running for the presidency in his native Egypt.

On the campaign trail at home, Moussa has faced repeated criticism from ordinary Egyptians about the Arab League’s failure to act in support of behalf of Arab causes.

But then political posturing such as Moussa’s is nothing new to the Arab League.

John R Bradley is the author of Saudi Arabia Exposed and Inside Egypt

daily mail

Update: Mr. Moussa changed his mind again
He said the 22-member organisation remains committed to UN-mandated efforts to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya and called upon coalition members to give top priority to protecting civilians.

“We respect the UN Security Council resolution and do not seek to contradict this resolution, especially since it stated that there will be no invasion or occupation of Libyan lands,” he said at a press conference with UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon.

Khamis, 27, who runs the feared Khamis Brigade that has been prominent in its role of attacking rebel-held areas, is said to have died on Saturday night, according to media reports.

According to reports on Algerian TV, a Libyan air force pilot crashed his jet into the Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli in a kamikaze attack.

Khamis allegedly died of burns in hospital. The Gaddafi regime has denied the reports
smh

Rebel fighters on Monday tried to follow up the retreat by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, advancing on government forces in Ajdabiya, but they retreated in disarray when they came under heavy fire.

Tony Birtley, Al Jazeera’s correspondent, reporting from an area close to Ajdabiya said there was fierce fighting outside the city.

“There’s been heavy fighting and heavy shelling going on … the rebels told me there have been heavy casualties and there are a number of corpses between here and the town [of Ajdabiya] that they have been unable to reach.”

He said the road between Benghazi and Ajdabiya was littered with the “burned-out wreckage of what was Gaddafi’s armour and tanks”, destroyed in air raids by coalition forces.

Shamsudin Abdulmola, from the opposition national council, told Al Jazeera: “The Libyan free forces seem to be allowing the coalition to clear the road ahead of heavy artillery and military forces which were planning to attack civilian populated areas.

“They’re holding back until the roads are cleared out and then the advance of the volunteers takes place.”

Elsewhere, forces loyal to Gaddafi surrounded the town of Misrata killing at least nine people, cutting off its water and bringing in human shields, the Reuters news agency reported, citing residents.

Coalition jets continued to patrol the UN-sanctioned no-fly zone over Libya, but launched no new attacks after air raids over the weekend scattered Gaddafi’s forces.

A cruise missile attack hit a three-story building in Gaddafi’s Bab al-Azizia compound in Tripoli late on Sunday, the first reported attack on the Libyan leader’s military control centre.

Libyan authorities invited journalists to visit the site of the attack early on Monday morning.

Mussa Ibrahim, a spokesman for Gaddafi, called the attack a “barbaric bombing” but said no one had been hurt.

He declined to say whether Gaddafi himself was inside the compound, the same site that was bombed by the US in 1986.

Coalition divisions

Recent events have made apparent divisions among the Western coalition leaders carrying out the UN-sanctioned military action in Libya and other world powers.

The UN-backed air raids mounted so far against Gadhafi’s force have been by Britain, France and the US, acting outside of their NATO roles.

Calls for the NATO alliance to take over the enforcement of the no-fly zone have been declined by Turkey, while other members have expressed concerns over whether NATO aircraft and equipment would be diverted from other missions, including the one in Afghanistan.

William Hague, the British foreign minister, refused to rule out using the coalition air raids to target Gaddafi, saying it depended on “circumstances at the time”.

But Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, said such action would be “unwise” and Laurent Teisseire, the French defence ministry spokesman, said “the answer is no,” when asked about the subject.

Later British General Sir David Richards, the head of Britain’s armed forces, said that Gaddafi was “absolutely not” a target for military action.

The US has been clear that it sees the goal of the mission as the departure of Gaddafi, with Barack Obama, the US president, saying on Monday that the Libyan leader “needs to go”.

He also said that the US expects to transfer its lead role in the military action on Libya to its allies.

“We anticipate this transition to take place in a matter of days and not in a matter of weeks,” Obama said.

In Russia, Vladimir Putin, Russia’s prime minister, criticised the UN resolution that sanctioned the use of force in Libya, calling it a “medieval call to crusade”.

“The resolution by the Security Council, of course, is defective and flawed,” Russian news agencies quoted Putin as telling workers on a visit to a missile factory.

“To me, it resembles some sort of medieval call to crusade when someone would appeal to someone to go to a certain place and free someone else.”

Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, later said reference to “crusades and so forth” was unnaceptable, but although it appeared to be a rebuke, he did not mention Putin by name.

The UN resolution imposing the a no-fly zone on Libya was passed after Russia, which has a veto, abstained during the Security Council vote.

Sanctions supported

Elsewhere, Amr Moussa, the Arab League chief, questioned the need for a bombardment of positions in Libya by coalition forces, saying they risked killing civilians.

US Navy Vice Admiral William Gortney, the staff director for the joint chiefs of staff, said at a Pentagon news conference there is no evidence civilians in Libya have been harmed in the air assault.

Moussa said later that the Arab League respected the UN resolution calling for military action in Libya.

“The Arab League position on Libya was decisive and from the first moment we froze membership of Libya … Then we asked the United Nations to implement a no-fly zone,” he told a news conference with Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general.

Guido Westerwelle, Germany’s foreign minster, speaking in Brussels, defended his country’s decision not to back air raids against Gaddafi’s forces.

He said that the Arab League criticism of the air attacks had vindicated Germany’s reluctance to back the action, but Germany stood with other European Union countries in tightening sanctions against the Libyan government.

Al Jazeera’s Laurence Lee, reporting from Brussels, said: “There’s lots of cracks just developing, some of them inside the European Union and some of them outside.

“The comments by Vladimir Putin, for example – who is prime minister, remember, he’s not the president so he’s supposed to be in charge of domestic, not foreign policy … demonstrate how this campaign in Libya is driving wedges between people who are supposed to be allies nowadays.”

In a meeting called by China, the UN Security Council is to discuss the situation in Libya on Monday, in response to a letter from Libya and a Russian request, according to a diplomatic sources.
Photo: Libyan rebels celebrate on a captured tank in the outskirts of Benghazi, eastern Libya, Sunday, March 20, 2011.
Al Jazeera and agencies

Speaking to reporters on Monday during a visit to Chile, Obama insisted the purpose of the military mission is in response to the humanitarian threat Gadhafi poses to his people.

“There are a whole range of policies that we are putting in place that have created one of the most powerful international consensuses around the isolation of Mr. Gadhafi and we will continue to pursue those,” Obama said

“But when it comes to the military action, we are doing so in support of UN Resolution 1973 that specifically talks about humanitarian efforts, and we are going to make sure we stick to that mandate.”

A mourner reacts at the March 21 funeral of several Libyans killed by pro-Gadhafi forces in Benghazi. (Suhaib Salem/Reuters)

Obama’s comments echoed those of the U.S. commander of the coalition military mission, who said aircraft enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya are there to protect civilians and not to provide air support for rebel forces.

During a briefing at the Pentagon on Monday, Gen. Carter Ham said the coalition fired 12 more cruise missiles Monday at Libyan missile, command and air defence sites. Ham added there is no direct co-ordination with the anti-Gadhafi forces.

Airstrikes averted ‘massacre’: U.K. PM

Earlier in the day, British Prime Minister David Cameron stressed in Britain’s House of Commons that through airstrikes, coalition forces helped avert what could have been “a bloody massacre in Benghazi.”

The airstrikes by U.S. forces and Western allies have hit a number of Libyan defence sites, including a building in Gadhafi’s compound in Tripoli.

The building in the Gadhafi compound was apparently targeted because it was believed to contain air defences, CBC’s Nahlah Ayed said from Cairo on Monday.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said more CF-18s are on standby to deploy to Libya following Canada’s first air mission on Monday, but no formal request for the additional aircraft has been made.

Four CF-18s and two CC-150 air-to-air refuellers flew as escorts for another country’s aircraft during a bombing mission, but the Canadian aircraft did not fire their weapons, MacKay said during a briefing.

Rebels aim to gain ground

Meanwhile, anti-government rebels tried to reclaim key Libyan cities Monday after international forces launched fresh airstrikes overnight.

Rebels said they were trying to reclaim the city of Ajdabiya, which had been surrounded by government troops before the international campaign began.

“There are pro-Gadhafi forces inside fighting rebel fighters. There is fighting and shelling going on,” said Ahmad Mohammed, 26, who returned from the front Monday.

Ayed said rebel fighters from Benghazi were also making their way to Ajdabiya.

New fighting also broke out Monday in Misrata, the last rebel-held city in western Libya, according to reports from Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya. CBC