BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Union could deploy warships near Libya to enforce an arms embargo on the strife-torn north African country, a senior EU official said Friday.
The potential weapons blockade will be among a package of measures that EU leaders will debate during an emergency summit on the Libyan crisis next Friday in Brussels, the official said.
The United Nations and the European Union decided earlier this week to ban the sale of weapons to Libya as part of a set of sanctions to punish Moammar Gadhafi's regime for its violent crackdown on protesters.
The 27-nation EU's security and defense policy provides "the possibility of some sort of naval surveillance" to enforce the embargo, the EU official said.
"I'm not saying that's exactly what is going to be done but there are always ways through which we can tighten up the sanctions to make sure they work," the official said.
The United States, Britain and France have deployed warships toward Libya amid debate among NATO allies about whether to use military power to stop the bloodshed.
The United States and Britain have evoked the possibility of imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, which would mean bombing Gadhafi's air defenses on the ground and shooting down hostile jets.
Several governments, including France, insist that such an operation would require a UN mandate. Russia, a veto-wielding member of the Security Council, has voiced deep reservations about it.
The potential weapons blockade will be among a package of measures that EU leaders will debate during an emergency summit on the Libyan crisis next Friday in Brussels, the official said.
The United Nations and the European Union decided earlier this week to ban the sale of weapons to Libya as part of a set of sanctions to punish Moammar Gadhafi's regime for its violent crackdown on protesters.
The 27-nation EU's security and defense policy provides "the possibility of some sort of naval surveillance" to enforce the embargo, the EU official said.
"I'm not saying that's exactly what is going to be done but there are always ways through which we can tighten up the sanctions to make sure they work," the official said.
The United States, Britain and France have deployed warships toward Libya amid debate among NATO allies about whether to use military power to stop the bloodshed.
The United States and Britain have evoked the possibility of imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, which would mean bombing Gadhafi's air defenses on the ground and shooting down hostile jets.
Several governments, including France, insist that such an operation would require a UN mandate. Russia, a veto-wielding member of the Security Council, has voiced deep reservations about it.
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