INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE intensified on the Gadafy regime in Libya as the European Commission called for “humility” about Europe’s failings in the Arab world.
As Europe imposed sanctions on Col Muammar Gadafy and 25 members of his family and inner circle, a senior EU source said a German proposal to suspend all financial transactions with the country for 60 days was being studied.
Meanwhile, the US began moving warships and aircraft closer to Libya and froze $30 billion in Libyan assets, ramping up pressure on leader Col Gadafy after calling on him to step down.
The ships could be used for humanitarian and rescue missions, secretary of state Hillary Clinton said in Geneva, where she told the UN Human Rights Council that Col Gadafy was using “mercenaries and thugs” to suppress a popular uprising.
The European authorities are also considering a request from France for an emergency summit to take stock of the turmoil. A European diplomat said it was unlikely such a summit would be called, but added foreign ministers might convene an emergency meeting.
The European sanctions will freeze any assets held by 26 individuals in the EU while targeting them with a ban on travel into the union. They also include an arms embargo and a ban on the export of any equipment which can be used for “internal repression”.
“What is going on – the massive violence against peaceful demonstrators – shocks our conscience,” EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in Geneva.
Those targeted include Gadafy’s daughter, seven sons and 10 other people not targeted by UN sanctions at the weekend. “This is an initial list, which will be kept under constant review, and will be amended accordingly,” the European source said.
In a speech last night, EU neighbourhood policy commissioner Stefan Füle said Europe was not vocal enough in its defence of human rights and democratic forces in north Africa.
“Too many of us fell prey to the assumption that authoritarian regimes were a guarantee of stability in the region. This was not even realpolitik. It was, at best, short-termism – and the kind of short-termism that makes the long term ever more difficult to build,” he said. “I am not saying that everything we did was wrong, rather that Europe, at this particular moment more than ever before, must be faithful to its values and stand on the side of democracy and social justice.”
In Benghazi, in spite of the upbeat move of the insurgents, there was fear of counterattacks from regime loyalists lying low. There was also dismay the UN had not decided to enforce a no-fly zone to prevent Tripoli from launching aerial attacks.
Military aircraft circled Djabiya in rebel-held eastern Libya yesterday, a security official said, adding that an earlier report they bombed an arms dump was incorrect.
The Obama administration has said military action is one option it is looking at, although many analysts say the US is highly unlikely to launch a ground invasion or air strikes because of the volatile situation on the ground.
The Pentagon gave no details of the forces being moved, but its announcement was probably aimed at sending a signal to Gadafy and his government that the US was matching its sharper rhetoric of recent days with action.
It was not immediately clear what ships the US Navy has in the Mediterranean but it does have two aircraft carriers stationed further southeast in the area of the Fifth Fleet Command, which includes the Gulf and Arabian and Red seas. – (Additional reporting, Reuters)