China Regrets Multinational Air Strikes in Libya

BEIJING - China expressed regret on March 20 over the multinational air strikes in Libya, saying in a foreign ministry statement that it opposed the use of force in international relations.
"China has noted the latest developments in Libya and expresses regret over the military attacks on Libya," the statement said.

Russia also issued a similarly worded statement in which it called for a ceasefire as soon as possible.
China's statement made no mention of a ceasefire and stressed that China respected the North African country's "sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity".
"We hope Libya can restore stability as soon as possible and avoid further civilian casualties due to an escalation of armed conflict," it added.
Multinational forces led by France and Britain began bombarding Libya with missiles from air and sea on March 19 to enforce a United Nations-mandated no-fly zone and protection of rebels from Moammar Gadhafi's forces.
China and Russia were the most prominent voices in opposition to military action in Libya within the 15-member United Nations Security Council.
However, neither blocked the U.N. resolution authorizing the operation, abstaining in the Security Council vote on the issue rather than using their veto power.
France and Britain had led the demands for a no-fly zone, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy wrote to the heads of state or government of all the other council members seeking urgent backing for the measure.
China said earlier it abstained after having taken into account "the concerns and positions of Arab countries and the African Union, as well as the current special circumstances in Libya", without elaborating further.
China, which faces frequent foreign criticism over its own human rights record and treatment of restive minority groups, consistently opposes moves deemed as interfering in the affairs of other countries.
"China has always opposed the use of force in international relations," Sunday's statement said, adding that Beijing supported the spirit and principles of the U.N. Charter, without elaborating.
China's leaders have watched with concern as a mix of issues ranging from the economy to corruption - and a lack of democracy - sparked popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and elsewhere in the Arab world.
Premier Wen Jiabao last week rejected any comparison to the situation in the Middle East and North Africa with China.
Nonetheless, leading web censors have blocked results for "Egypt" and other terms that could be related to the uprisings, for instance on the popular web portal sina.com.
It has also poured security forces into the streets in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities across the country in response to anonymous calls for weekly Sunday "strolling" rallies in major Chinese cities.
The calls have largely fizzled under the smothering police response, and no obvious protest actions have been reported.

U.S. Under Pressure to Arm Libya Rebels

WASHINGTON - The administration of President Barack Obama has come under mounting pressure to arm Libyan rebels facing an emboldened and regrouping military, amid charges Washington missed recent chances to oust the country's strongman.

Obama has insisted that all options, including military action, remain on the table with respect to Libya, where Moammar Gadhafi's forces have unleashed deadly airstrikes on rebels and civilians in efforts to crush an uprising in which thousands are feared dead.

But with the administration cautioning that a decision on a no-fly zone was still far off, opinion among U.S. lawmakers and former officials appeared to coalesce around the likelihood that supplying weapons to the outgunned rebels was a way forward.
"I assume that a lot of weapons are going to find their way there (to rebels in Libya) from one means or another over the course of the next weeks," Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, from Obama's Democratic Party, told CBS's "Face the Nation" March 6.
Ex-governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, also said it was time to "covertly arm the rebels" and enforce a no-fly zone over Libya.
And Stephen Hadley, national security adviser to Obama's predecessor George W. Bush, said Washington should look at the potential for funneling arms to Gadhafi's opponents.
"Obviously, if there is a way to get weapons into the hands of the rebels, if we can get anti-aircraft systems so that they can enforce a no-fly zone over their own territory, that would be helpful," Hadley told CNN.
Pentagon spokesman Col. David Lapan declined to confirm any potential plans to send weapons to opposition forces, simply telling AFP that "all options are being considered."
According to The New York Times, these options could include use of signal-jamming aircraft in international airspace to muddle Libyan government communications with military units.
Another tactic would be to air-drop weapons and supplies to Libyan rebels, the report said. Other options under consideration also included inserting small special operations teams to assist the rebels, as was done in Afghanistan to topple the Taliban, the paper noted.
Kerry said a no-fly zone should be set up in conjunction with allies, but warned that direct military action would be "trickier."
"The last thing we want to think about is any kind of military intervention, and I don't consider the fly zone stepping over that line," Kerry said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has warned that imposing a no-fly zone begins with direct military action, as it would require bombing raids to eradicate Libya's air defenses, thus potentially dragging the United States into a third major war front after Iraq and Afghanistan.
But both Kerry and Republican Sen. John McCain - two of the most renowned combat veterans in the U.S. Senate - downplayed the risk and complexity of such a move.
"That's actually not the only option for what one could do," said Kerry.
"One could crater the airports and the runways and leave them incapable of using them for a period of time."
There were other ways of displaying U.S. might to Tripoli, including the use of military transport planes to fly Egyptian refugees out of Tunisia, and the recent arrival in the Mediterranean of two U.S. warships with Marines on board.
"We have made the presence of American military felt for that purpose," Kerry said.
A former Tripoli regime member complained that Washington has missed a key opportunity to end Gadhafi's four-decade grip on power.
"We asked for help when he was on the ropes," said Libya's ex-minister of immigration Ali Errishi, who resigned shortly after the uprising began nearly three weeks ago, along with several key Gadhafi loyalists and military figures.
"They were dragging their feet, I don't know why."
Rebels have taken control of much of Libya's eastern half, but Gadhafi's well-armed forces have gone on the counter-attack against rag-tag groups of rebels who are often armed only with AK-47 assault rifles.
McCain, Obama's 2008 rival for the presidency, said a no-fly zone would "send a signal to Gadhafi" that Obama was serious in his call for the Libyan leader to step down.
"It would be encouraging to the resistance, who are certainly outgunned from the air," he told ABC's "This Week."
He backed off from direct military engagement but noted Washington could also provide technical assistance and intelligence capabilities.

Top US Officer In Gulf To Reassure Allies

MUSCAT - The United States' top military officer on Monday made a discreet visit to Oman which guards the Strait of Hormuz opposite Iran's coast as Pentagon strategists monitor the strategic and vital waterway.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, also visited Bahrain, home to Washington's Fifth Fleet, as anti-regime protests gathered steam in the kingdom.

The key U.S. ally has been rocked by anti-regime protests since Feb. 14 as thousands of mainly Shiite protesters demand an end to the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty, which has ruled Bahrain, a majority Shiite country, for over 200 years.
Mullen has been touring the Gulf since Sunday to reassure U.S. regional allies after mass revolts in the Arab world that have toppled two of Washington's allies, Tunisia's Zine El Abdine Ben Ali and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak.
Mullen has said his visits were aimed at "reaffirming, reassuring and also trying to understand where the leaderships of these countries are going, and in particular in Bahrain."
After having arrived in the Saudi capital Riyadh earlier this week, Mullen then visited Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
He will also head to Kuwait to participate in ceremonies marking the 20th anniversary of the country's liberation in 1991 from Iraqi occupation.
In Oman, Mullen and Gen. James Mattis, commander of U.S. Central Command, in charge of the wars in Iraq and and Afghanistan, met officials whose identities were not disclosed.
The Hormuz Strait through which 40 percent of the world's oil supply passes is less than 31 miles wide, with Oman to the south and Iran to the north, and Mullen's visit underlines U.S. determination to keep it open.
Iranian commanders have repeatedly threatened to block navigation through the strait, which links the Gulf to the Indian Ocean, if the Islamic republic comes under attack.
Western powers led by the United States suspect Iran is masking a weapons drive under the guise of a civilian atomic program, a charge strongly denied by Iran.
"We've been concerned about Iranian capabilities to impede the flow of oil through the Hormuz straight for a long time," a military official traveling with Mullen told AFP.
The Iranians "certainly would have an initial impact but we do not believe they can close it down for a lengthy period of time."
t"We have very robust naval capabilities in the region, these are international waterways that they don't own and we're very committed to protect them," said the official.
In Bahrain, Mullen will visit the forces stationed in the Fifth Fleet, the major U. S. Navy base that has been in the kingdom for 63 years.
The Gulf archipelago state has been hit by protests calling on the government, headed by King Hamad's uncle Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman who is widely despised by Shiites there, to step down.
Seven people have been killed in a police crackdown on the protesters.
However, the United States has praised the monarchy for taking "positive steps" to reach out to protesters.
The U. S. Navy has also said that the demonstrations have not disrupted American operations in the kingdom.
"As far as Fifth Fleet operations, no, the demonstrations have not had any impact here - we're continuing to conduct our regular business out here," a spokesman for the Fifth Fleet told AFP on Monday.

Tunisia's Mohammed Ghannouchi defends new government

Tunisia's PM Mohammed Ghannouchi has defended the inclusion of members of the old regime in his new government.

The retained ministers have "clean hands", he insisted - while vowing those behind recent street "massacres" would face "justice".
President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was forced into exile on Friday after a month of protests in which the government now admits 78 people died.
There were reports that fresh protests on Tuesday were broken up by police.
Police used tear gas to disperse the protesters in Tunis - though reports suggested that in other parts of the city many Tunisians were getting back to their daily business.
The BBC's Wyre Davies says the new government is now tasked with speedily implementing the constitutional reforms and preparation for free and fair elections which Tunisians have been promised.
He says another urgent challenge is to begin to return economic stability to the country - the crisis is estimated to have cost it some $2bn (£1.3bn).
Mr Ghannouchi's pledges to allow political and media freedoms do appear to have placated some protesters, but others have dismissed the new government.
"It does not really reflect what people have aspired to," the president of the Human Rights League in Tunisia, Masoud Ramadani, told the BBC.
"The demonstrations all around the country were about corruption, freedom and also were against the party of the president, which was considered as corrupt. But then we see now the ongoing presence of this political party, the presence of these people who represent the old regime."
'Era of freedom'

TUNISIAN CABINET

• Mohammed Ghannouchi stays on as prime minister. A Ben Ali ally, he has been in the job since 1999, keeping post throughout unrest
• Interior Minister Ahmed Friaa, appointed by Mr Ben Ali to mollify demonstrators, retains post
• Foreign Minister Kamal Morjane retains post
• Najib Chebbi, founder of opposition Progressive Democratic Party, named as development minister
• Ahmed Ibrahim, leader of opposition Ettajdid party, named minister of higher education
• Mustafa ben Jaafar, leader of opposition Union of Freedom and Labour, named health minister
• Slim Amamou, prominent blogger who was arrested during protests, is secretary of state for youth and sport

In the interview with French radio Europe 1 on Tuesday, Mr Ghannouchi described Tunisia as going through a "historic change".

He repeated pledges made on Monday of a new "era of freedom", which would see political parties free to operate and a free press.
He said free and fair elections would be held within six months, controlled by an independent election commission and monitored by international observers.
Mr Ghannouchi - himself an ally of the former president - described himself as a "transition" leader and said he did not claim to be "legitimate".
Despite vowing that those behind the deaths of protesters should face justice, when asked whether he thought Mr Ben Ali himself should face trial, he replied: "I cannot say that."
Mr Ghannouchi defended ministers who retained their jobs in his new unity government, saying that they were "needed" and had always acted "to preserve the international interest".
The foreign, interior and defence ministers all kept their jobs when Mr Ghannouchi unveiled the new administration on Monday - though three prominent opposition figures were named to key posts.

Fall from power

• 17 Dec: A graduate sets himself on fire in Sidi Bouzid over lack of jobs, sparking protests
• 24 Dec: Protester shot dead in central Tunisia
• 28 Dec: Protests spread to Tunis
• 8-10 Jan: Dozens of deaths reported in crackdown on protests
• 12 Jan: Interior minister sacked
• 13 Jan: President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali promises to step down in 2014
• 14 Jan: Mr Ben Ali dissolves government and parliament, then steps down
• 17 Jan: New unity cabinet announced

• 
  

Ahmed Ibrahim, leader of the opposition Ettajdid party, becomes minister of higher education, while Mustafa Ben Jaafar, of the Union of Freedom and Labour, is to serve as health minister.

Najib Chebbie, founder of the Progressive Democratic Party, was named as Tunisia's new development minister.
But Mr Ghannouchi told Europe 1 that the head of Tunisia's banned Islamist party Ennahdha, Rached Ghannouchi, would only be allowed to return to Tunisia if a life sentence imposed on him in 1991 was cancelled by an amnesty.
Responding to a question about claims that it was really Mr Ben Ali's wife, Leila Trabelsi, who held the reins of power towards the end of his rule, Mr Ghannouchi replied: "We have that impression".
Unrest in Tunisia grew over several weeks, with widespread protests over high unemployment and high food prices pitching demonstrators against Tunisia's police and military.
The British and other western governments earlier indicated they expected more reforms and political freedoms to be announced, our correspondent says.
But there has been little official reaction from other authoritarian governments in North Africa and the wider Arab world, he adds.