Germany opposition exposes EU divisions on Libyan military action

Mar 21, 2011, 9:49 GMT

Brussels - European Union countries appeared as divided as ever on the issue of military action against Libya on Monday, as the bloc's biggest member, Germany, insisted that its opposition was justified by Arab League criticism of Western air strikes.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa spoke Sunday after a coalition led by France, Britain and the United States started taking out Libyan air defence positions to enforce a United Nations Security Council resolution imposing a no-fly zone.

'We decided not to participate with German soldiers, we calculated the risk and if we see that three days after this intervention began the Arab League already criticized this intervention, I think we had good reasons,' German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said before scheduled talks with EU counterparts in Brussels.

Several other European ministers insisted that the so-called Operation Odyssey Dawn against the regime of Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi was fully in line with what the UN had authorized.

'There is a strict respect of the UN resolution because in the resolution it says no-fly zone and all measures for protecting the civilian population, so all measures also means to act in this way, military speaking,' Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez said.

She said that Moussa was 'a very reasonable man' and added, 'we are trying to speak to him in order to explain exactly how the resolution is going on and how we are acting in this way, but I am sure that ... we will agree on everything because for us it is very important the support of the Arab League.'

Her Finnish counterpart, Alexander Stubb, suggested that the extent of Arab League criticism had been exaggerated.

'Let's not make mountains out of molehills,' he told reporters.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton minimized the rift, claiming that 'Moussa was misquoted' and reminding that he took part in the Paris summit on Saturday which decided the start of the air raids.

'He too was very clear in offering support on the basis of what was being proposed and is now being implemented,' Ashton said.

EU foreign ministers were expected to extend visa ban and asset freeze lists against officials and companies linked to Gaddafi - a measure that would be followed by more sanctions later this week, namely targeting the Libyan National Oil Company.

Ministers were also set to discuss providing military back-up for humanitarian aid efforts and - possibly - enforce the UN arms embargo against Libya.

In separate talks in Brussels, NATO ambassadors were set to debate later Monday whether the alliance should take over the command of Odyssey Dawn.

Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said a decision on the structure of military command was needed 'very quickly.'

'It would be a very bad signal if it is the coalition now, and then if things turn bad we move over to NATO. We need to decide now who does what, because this game between the coalition and NATO is damaging to the entire international community,' he said.

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