EUROPEAN UNION foreign ministers have insisted that a UN Security Council resolution is needed to endorse military action against Libya, while some of them suggest Brussels could enter talks with moderate members of the Gadafy regime as well as the rebel council in Benhgazi.
“No one is excluded apart from Gadafy. We need to have contacts with all different sectors of the Libyan society,” Sweden’s top diplomat Carl Bildt said on the sidelines of an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Hungary.
His French counterpart Alain Juppé said the Benghazi council was “an essential partner” but underlined that “there can be other interlocutors”.
“We must see if in Tripoli in the current regime there aren’t potential interlocutors, although Gadafy and his close circle must of course be excluded from this process,” Mr Juppé added.
France and Britain are seen as strong advocates for the swift imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya, while Germany has adopted a far more cautious position.
“We do not want to be drawn into a war in north Africa – we should have learned from the events in and surrounding Iraq,” said German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle.
“It is very important that the impression doesn’t arise that this is a conflict of the West against the Arab world or a Christian crusade against people of Muslim faith.”
Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, who is Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, said: “Ireland’s position is that we must work to isolate the Gadafy regime and bring about a peaceful transition of power in Libya.
"Gadafy has to go, there has to be change in Libya. But removing Gadafy is only a means to an end, to help the development of democracy and a peaceful state near the borders of the EU," he told The Irish Times.
“If we impose a no-fly zone it has to be enforced. There has to be UN sanction for military intervention. We have to be very cautious about the legal and humanitarian implications for Libya and the region.”