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Great Britain sends in ground troops to mop up job in Libya
by Joseph Ernest April 19, 2011
Newscast Media LONDON, England -- British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the British ground troops would be deployed to the opposition stronghold of Benghazi to protect civilians in Libya. The moves may be setting the scene for a clash with Libyan forces. Libyan government said today that it will fight any foreign troops on its soil.
"If there is any deployment of any armed personnel on Libyan ground, there will be fighting," Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim told reporters at a news conference in Tripoli. "The Libyan government will not take it as a humanitarian mission. It will be taken as a military mission."
Mr Hague said: "The UK National Security Council has decided that we will now move quickly to expand the team already in Benghazi to include an additional military liaison advisory team. This contingent will be drawn from experienced British military officers.
"These additional personnel will enable the UK to build on the work already being undertaken to support and advise the NTC [opposition National Transitional Council] on how to better protect civilians.
"In particular they will advise the NTC on how to improve their military organizational structures, communications and logistics, including how best to distribute humanitarian aid and deliver medical assistance."
Meanwhile, British military chiefs have been giving details of the latest action by the RAF to enforce the no-fly zone. Maj Gen John Lorimer said Tornado and Typhoon aircraft attacked rocket launcher vehicles and light artillery observed firing on Misrata, and a second pair of RAF planes destroyed a gun and tank on a transporter. Tomahawk cruise missiles were also fired by the nuclear-powered submarine HMS Triumph.
Maj Gen Lorimer said: "It will take time for the full impact of these attacks to become clear. "But they do illustrate in the clearest manner Nato's resolution to take all necessary action to safeguard wherever possible the Libyan people under threat of attack and its ability to strike, with sophisticated targeting and effective precision firepower, at the heart of the apparatus used by Colonel Gaddafi to terrorize the civilian population." Add Comments>>
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