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Cameron rules out invading Libya over fears of alienating Arabs

Last updated on: April 18, 2011 14:06 IST
British Prime Minister David Cameron has ruled out invading Libya against a United Nations mandate, amid concerns that the forces of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi were using cluster bombs to gain control over rebel strongholds.

Cameron stressed that it was important to follow the UN mandate and not to take action that could alienate the Arab world. "What we've said is there is no question of invasion or an occupation -- this is not about Britain putting boots on the ground," the Daily Mail quoted him, as saying.

Cameron said that the Western alliance's mission is to enforce a no-fly zone and press on with sorties to destroy Gaddafi's tanks and artillery that are being used to kill civilians. He added that the alliance would help in every other way to stop Gaddafi "unleashing this hell on people in Misrata and other towns up and down the Libyan coast."

Meanwhile, recent reports have claimed that many families have fled the rebel held key town of Ajdabiya after the Libyan regime renewed attacks in a bid to regain the territory in the eastern parts of the country.

The head surgeon at a hospital in Ajdabiya has said that Gaddafi's soldiers were carrying out executions of captured rebels and civilians.

"We've had many people brought in with their hands tied behind their backs and a bullet-hole in the head,' he said. 'It is happening all the time. They are killing anyone they can catch, even if they are not fighters," he added.

However, such allegations were refuted by Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam, saying that the rebel forces as brutal terrorists and gangsters led by the Al Qaeda, and urged the international community to find the truth and stressed that the regime has not committed any crime against civilians. 

 

Source: ANI