Russia accused France today of committing a "crude violation" of a UN weapons embargo by arming Libyan rebels, while Washington said it was legal, creating a new diplomatic dispute over the Western air war.
France confirmed yesterday that it had air-dropped arms to rebels in Libya's Western Mountains, becoming the first Nato country to openly acknowledge arming the insurgency against Gadafy's 41-year rule.
France, Britain and the United States are leading a three-month-old air campaign which they say they will not end until Col Gadafy falls. The war has become the bloodiest of the "Arab Spring" uprisings sweeping North Africa and the Middle East.
Rebel advances have been slow, although the insurgents claimed successes this week in the Western Mountains region where they received the French arms, pushing on Sunday to near Bir al-Ghanam, within 80km of Tripoli.
Today the rebels surveyed the strategic town from a ridge overlooking the desert plateau that leads to the capital, in preparation for a possible attack. A Reuters journalist with them said they were waiting for Nato airstrikes to help them.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow "asked our French colleagues today whether reports that weapons from France were delivered to Libyan rebels correspond with reality."
"If this is confirmed, it is a very crude violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1970," he said. That resolution, adopted in February, imposed a comprehensive arms embargo.
Paris said it believed it had not violated the UN embargo because the weapons it gave the rebels were needed to protect civilians from an imminent attack, which it says is allowed under a later Security Council resolution.
Washington agreed. "We believe that UN Security Council resolutions 1970 and 1973, read together, neither specified nor precluded providing defence materiel to the Libyan opposition," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.
"We would respectfully disagree with the Russian assessment," he added. Nevertheless, although legal, arming the rebels was "not an option that we have acted on," he said.
Although Russia is not involved in the bombing campaign, its stance could add to reservations among some Nato countries wary over an air war that has lasted longer and cost more than expected. Moscow could also challenge Paris at the UN Security Council, where both are veto-wielding permanent members.
UN spokesman Farhan Haq said it was up to the Security Council to determine what is permitted by its resolutions.
France's weapons airlift, while possibly increasing the insurgent threat to Col Gadafy, highlights a dilemma for Nato.
More than 90 days into its bombing campaign, Col Gadafy is still in power and no breakthrough is in sight, making some Nato members feel they should help the rebels more pro-actively, something the poorly armed insurgents have encouraged.
But if they do that, they risk fracturing the cohesion of the international coalition over how far to go.
Even before news of the French arms supply emerged, fissures were emerging in the coalition with some members voicing frustration about the high cost, civilian casualties, and the elusiveness of a military victory.
Col Gadafy says the Nato campaign is an act of colonial aggression aimed at stealing the North African state's oil. He says Nato's UN-mandated justification for its campaign - to protect Libyan civilians from attack - is spurious.
Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen made clear today the weapons airlift was a unilateral French initiative. Asked by reporters on a visit to Vienna if Nato had been involved, he answered: "No."
"As regards compliance with the UN Security Council resolution, it is for the UN sanctions committee to determine that," Mr Rasmussen said.
The rebel advance towards Tripoli's southwest outskirts from the Western Mountains has not been matched by progress towards the capital from the east, where they hold Misrata on the coast about 200km from the capital.
The city has been bombarded for months by Col Gadafy's forces. Six rockets landed early today near the oil refinery and port. A Reuters journalist there reported no casualties.
Britain's military said its Apache helicopters had attacked a government checkpoint and two military vehicles near Khoms, on the Mediterranean coast between Misrata and Tripoli.
Insurgents say Col Gadafy's forces are massing and bringing weapons to quell an uprising in Zlitan, the next big town along the road from Misrata to the capital. Rebels inside Zlitan said they mounted a raid on pro-Gadafy positions last night.
Le Figaro newspaper said France had parachuted rocket launchers, assault rifles and anti-tank missiles into the Western Mountains region, southwest of Tripoli, in early June.
A French military spokesman later confirmed arms had been delivered, although he said anti-tank missiles were not among them. Despite the diplomatic storm, the rebels encouraged more arms deliveries.
"Giving (us) weapons we will be able to decide the battle more quickly, so that we can shed as little blood as possible," senior rebel figure Mahmoud Jibril said in Vienna.
The conflict has halted oil exports from Libya, helping push up world oil prices. Jibril said it may take years for oil exports to fully resume: "No, no oil is being sold. A lot of the oil well system was destroyed, especially in the east."
Reuters