A suggestion has been made by the French Defence Minister that a new UN Security Council resolution may be needed for Nato allies to achieve their goals in Libya.
Mr. Gérard Longuet made the suggestion speaking after a joint letter by the US, UK and French leaders stated there could be no peace while Col Muammar Gaddafi was in power.
The current UN resolution makes no mention of regime change.
Since the uprising against his rule broke out, Nato pilots are enforcing the current UN resolution, establishing a no-fly zone and protecting Libyan civilians.
Talking on French radio, Mr Longuet admitted that removing Col Gaddafi was “certainly” beyond the scope of the existing UN Security Council resolution 1973 on Libya, and could require a new vote.
“Beyond resolution 1973, certainly it didn’t mention the future of Gaddafi, but I think that three major countries saying the same thing is important to the United Nations and perhaps one day the Security Council will adopt a resolution.”
At the Berlin conference, Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the organisation was absolutely determined to continue its operation for as long as there was a threat against Libyan civilians.
“And it’s impossible to imagine the threat will disappear with Gaddafi in power,” he added.
In their open letter published earlier on Friday, Barack Obama, David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy said Nato must maintain military operations to protect civilians and maintain pressure on Col Gaddafi.
To allow him to remain in power would “betray” the Libyan people, they wrote.{jcomments on}
