Arab League chief voices support for UN action

MISGIVINGS DROPPED:ARAB LEAGUE secretary general Amr Moussa said yesterday the 22-member organisation remains committed to UN-mandated efforts to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya and called upon coalition members to give top priority to protecting civilians.

“We respect the UN Security Council resolution and do not seek to contradict this resolution, especially since it stated that there will be no invasion or occupation of Libyan lands,” he said at a press conference with UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon.

Mr Moussa has, apparently, dropped misgivings expressed 24 hours earlier about civilian casualties from western airstrikes.

Analysts suggested that since he has declared his candidacy for the Egyptian presidency, his criticism may have been meant to impress voters, many of whom could vehemently oppose attacks on Libya. Angry Egyptians chanting “No to no-fly” assaulted Mr Ban’s car when he attempted to leave the Arab League’s headquarters on Tahrir Square in Cairo. He escaped through a back door.

Mr Moussa’s earlier remarks and Mr Ban’s rough treatment did not deter Abdul Rahman bin Hamad al-Attiyah, head of the Gulf Co-operation Council, from reaffirming its support for operations over Libya.

“What is happening now is not an intervention. It’s about protecting people from bloodshed,” he said.

The two Arab states that have announced their participation in the Libya mission are Gulf Co-operation Council members.

Qatar will contribute four aircraft to the effort, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has deployed 500 police to help stabilise Bahrain, has also said it would provide aircraft. Qatari aircraft are to be based in France, while the UAE will base its aircraft in Italy.

Arab rulers and citizens have strong reservations about the UN mission. Critics fear it may be too little and too late to prevent Muammar Gadafy from tightening his grip on western Libya and, eventually, retaking the east.

Many Arabs see the US as an enemy because of its support for Israel, backing for autocratic regimes and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Initial attacks by French warplanes and US and British cruise missiles took place on the eighth anniversary of the US war on Iraq, regarded by many Arabs as a “neo-colonial crusade” – to use the very words employed by Col Gadafy about the Libyan operation.

The ousting of the Tunisian and Egyptian presidents and ongoing risings in other Arab countries have made rulers wary of antagonising their people. The balance of power between ruler and ruled has changed. Arab rulers cannot deploy troops or provide bases for western-dominated campaigns as they did in the 1991 and 2003 wars on Iraq without risking the wrath of citizens, no longer cowed by heavy-handed internal security agencies.

Regimes fear that if their people revolt, the UN might intervene with force to prevent suppression of uprisings. The longer the intervention in Libya, the greater the likelihood of a build-up of popular Arab opposition.