(#Libya) France Becomes the First Country to Officially Recognize Libya's Opposition

Good for France!

France 24 reports, citing AP (3/10/2011):

France is the first country to formally recognise the legitimacy of Libya's rebel National Transitional Council and will open an embassy in Benghazi, the government announced after meeting with NTC representatives in Paris Thursday

Libya’s opposition battled for military and diplomatic advantage against Moammar Gadhafi’s embattled regime on Thursday, winning official recognition from France and hitting government forces with heavy weapons on the road to the capital.

France became the first country to formally recognize the rebels’ newly created Interim Governing Council, saying it planned to exchange ambassadors after President Nicolas Sarkozy met with two representatives of the group based in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.

Meanwhile, the NATO hemmed and hawed but no action other than wringing their collective hands and move some ships in the Mediterranean.

According to AFP, French president Nicolas Sarkozy will propose air strikes on Libya:

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will propose air strikes on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's command headquarters to EU leaders, a source close to discussions has told AFP.

At an EU summit on the Libyan crisis, he will propose "striking an extremely limited number of points which are the source of the most deadly operations" by forces loyal to Gaddafi, the source, who asked not to be named, said on Thursday.

The three sites being considered are Gaddafi's Bab al-Azizia command headquarters in Tripoli, a military air base in Syrte, east of Tripoli and another in Sebha in the south, the source said.

Sarkozy's office declined to confirm the claim when contacted by AFP.

I'm not that sure about the air strikes, unless they can be carried out by France alone. I simply do not want the US to be involved in any way, given the track record in the past 50 years.

One thing that is decidedly against the opposition forces is not the lack of air power or training (they seem to be learning very quickly); it's the flat terrain of Libya. It offers hardly any cover for the opposition fighters. Conventional, open battles favor the Gaddafi forces with tanks and jets.

Guerrilla warfare, which has marked many revolutionary wars including that of Afghanistan and of the United States, is not really possible on a flat land.

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(#Libya) US Denies Landing of the Plane Carrying Gaddafi's New UN Ambassador, Invites Gaddafi's Envoys to EU/NATO Meetings

and Obama is hosting a TV-viewing party to cheer for his favorite basketball team.

What's wrong with this picture?

The US is picking the sides on Libya by denying the landing of the plane carrying Libya's ambassador to the UN, not to the US, just because he was appointed by Gaddafi. Has the US severed diplomatic ties with Libya? No, it hasn't. There was a talk of "reviewing" the diplomatic ties, but that was as far as it went, reviewing.

Then the same US is apparently behind inviting the Gaddafi's envoys to the EU and the NATO meetings, according to Al Jazeera, while the liberal wing of the European Parliament has invited the opposition envoys.

Can you say "incoherent"? Can you scream "What'cha doin'??"

That's nothing new ever since Obama somehow became the president of the US, but this guy never ceases to disappoint.

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(#Libya) Opposition Meeting with Swiss, French, Gadaffi's Envoy Meeting Portuguese

(Update) The opposition's meeting with France was with Alain Juppe, foreign minister of France, and they were invited by the liberal faction of the EU Parliament, according to Reuters Africa.

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(Note to the Opposition: Demand Stingers...)

Swiss, French meeting the Opposition;

EU, NATO (and Portugal) meeting the Gaddafi government.

Interesting.

Tweets from Sultan Al Qassemi:

Al Jazeera: the French President will receive representatives of the Libyan National Council tomorrow.

Al Jazeera: AFP: the Swiss President receives a representative of the Libyan National Council.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reports:

9:31pm

Portugal's Foreign Minister Luis Amado has met an envoy from Tripoli in Lisbon, according to a statement emailed to reporters.

The meeting was arranged in agreement with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and was part of preparations for a meeting of EU foreign ministers later this week to discuss the situation in Libya, the
ministry said.

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(#Libya) More on Libyan-EU Meetings

#Gaddafi's envoys are to meet the EU and NATO officials on Thursday and Friday, says Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini. (WTF??)

More from Reuters (3/9/2011):

ROME, March 9 (Reuters) - Libyan government emissaries have flown to Brussels to talk to European and NATO officials meeting on Thursday and Friday, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Wednesday.

Frattini's comments, to a parliamentary committee hearing, came after reports that another plane had flown to Cairo carrying a message from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

"Two aircraft of the Libyan regime appear to have left Libya for Brussels with the intention of enabling emissaries of Gaddafi to meet representatives taking part in the meetings of the EU and NATO tomorrow and the next day," Frattini said.

He noted that the visits to Cairo and Brussels suggested that the situation was very fluid and he cautioned against taking any action which might be premature.

"I don't know what will be said in Cairo, I don't know who will meet whom in Brussels but these movements are a fact that we have to take account of," he said.

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(#Libya) Irony of the Day Goes to NATO

AFP reports: Attacks against civilians in Libya may amount to "crimes against humanity", making it diifficult for the world to stand "idly by", NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

Attacks against civilians are exactly what NATO has been carrying out in Afghanistan since 2003, when they formally assumed control of ISAF.

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(#Libya) More on Botched Dutch Rescue - I Smell NATO

The two who were rescued may not be the "embassy" personnel at all - one is a Dutch man, the other a Swedish woman.

Of the three Dutch Marines who have been caught, at least one of them is a woman.

This AOL News article has the video footage:

Sure, women should be in the combat, or the rescue mission in a hostile country which may be particularly hostile to women. Equal opportunity, right?

Unfortunately men and women are not created equal. Women, at least majority of them, do not have the same physical strength of men because they are simply anatomically different - cannot carry heavy loads as much, cannot run as fast.

Aside from the politically correct Marines of the Netherlands, do you think the Dutch prime minister in the video is telling the truth when he quickly assures, yes of course it was on our government's order that the Marines went in?

I think he is lying. He probably didn't even know about the mission. Just my guess, no basis.

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(#Libya) And Now Obama Says NATO Is Considering Military Options for Libya

From Haaretz (3/7/2011):

U.S. President Barack Obama authorized an additional $15 million in humanitarian aid to Libya on Monday, and warned that the U.S. and its NATO allies were still considering military options to stop what he called "unacceptable" violence perpetrated by supporters of leader Muammar Ghadhafi

Obama spoke as Libyan warplanes launched multiple airstrikes on opposition fighters in the second day of a harsh government crackdown to thwart rebels advancing on Gadhafi's stronghold in Tripoli.

"I want to send a very clear message to those who are around Colonel Gadhafi," Obama told reporters, alongside Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who is in

Washington for meetings.

"It is their choice to make how they operate moving forward. And they will be held accountable for whatever violence continues to take place," he added.

(Moving forward? Is this his campaign speech or something?)

I guess Saudis said no to his request?

Good luck coordinating NATO - US, UK, France, Italy, Germany, etc. Or will it be more like US, Poland, Turkey, Romania...?

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