...

France accuses NATO of hanging back in Libya

Arab World Materials 12 April 2011 14:01 (UTC +04:00)

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe on Tuesday accused NATO of hanging back in Libya, saying the military alliance was "not sufficiently" fulfilling its role of destroying leader Moamer Gaddafi's heavy weapons, DPA reported.

"NATO has to fully play its role," Juppe said in an interview with France Info public radio. Asked if NATO was not currently doing so, he answered: "Not sufficiently."

France wished to see NATO "destroy the heavy weapons that are bombarding the city of Misurata," he said.

Juppe said he would bring up the matter at a meeting of European Union ministers Tuesday in Luxembourg and again at a NATO meeting Thursday and Friday in Berlin.

On March 31 NATO took over a campaign of airstrikes against Gaddafi's regime, as well as responsibility for overseeing a no-fly zone over the country, from a Western-led alliance dominated by the United States, France and Britain.

Tags:
Latest

Latest