Tripoli, Libya (Mfarhanonline) — France and Italy announced Wednesday that they will send military officers to advise rebels fighting for the ouster of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s regime.
Following a similar announcement by the British government Tuesday, French government spokesman Francois Baroin said a “small number” of French troops were being sent to advise the rebels’ Transitional National Council.
French Defense Minister Gérard Longuet again ruled out sending ground troops to fight alongside the rebels. “This is a real issue that deserves an international debate,” he said, adding, “We are working within the framework of the 1973 resolution,” a reference to the U.N. resolution that authorized action in Libya. “You cannot please everyone all the time,” he said.
Italy will send military advisers to train the rebels in self-defense tactics, Italian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maurizio Massari announced.
Britain said Tuesday it is sending a contingent of experienced military officers to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi in an advisory role. The team will work with the Transitional National Council on how the opposition can improve military organizational structures, communications and logistics, the British Foreign Office said. It will also assist in the delivery of critically needed aid.
“This deployment is fully within the terms of UNSCR 1973 both in respect of civilian protection and its provision expressly ruling out a foreign occupation force on Libyan soil,” Foreign Secretary William Hague said.
The United States is not moving toward sending military advisers, according to a U.S. military official with knowledge of ongoing discussions inside the U.S. military. The White House remains adamant there will be no U.S. “boots on the ground,” although U.S. intelligence operatives remain in Libya, the source said.
The official pointed out there is a mixed record for U.S. military advisers in past conflicts. Perhaps the most obvious example, the official said, was the initial years of the Vietnam conflict when the U.S. military began with an advisory role that later grew. And if the United States sent advisory troops to Libya, it would then have to provide security, transportation, supplies and other gear, and would have to have units on standby for emergency extraction if they ran into trouble, the source said.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has recommended that President Barack Obama authorize the U.S. government sending up to $25 million in non-lethal commodities and services to support Libyan rebels, including the Transitional National Council, two senior administration officials said Wednesday.
In Libya, rebel spokesman Jalal al Gallal called Wednesday’s announcements by France and Italy “positive.”
“We are pleased with the results, and I think it’s a prelude to more cooperation,” he said. “The more advisers we have on the ground, the better coordination we’ll have on the battlefield.”
The announcements from the European nations came as Transitional National Council President Mustafa Abdul Jalil was in Europe for meetings with leaders.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Arabic countries, in particular Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Every Arab country has its own issues and maybe some were later than others in giving their support but we would like to thank the Arabic countries and the European countries, NATO, the U.S., Australia and Canada and all those countries that are supporting this Libyan revolution.”
Qatar and the UAE are among the countries contributing to the international effort in Libya.
Libyan Foreign Minister Abdul Ati al-Obeidi on Tuesday blasted Britain’s announcement that it was sending military advisers. In an interview with ITN, he called it a step toward “confrontation.”
The efforts to bolster the rebellion come as Libya’s main opposition body pleaded for an international military intervention.
Libyans are “being slaughtered every day by the Gadhafi forces,” rebel spokesman Shamsiddin Abdulmolah told Mfarhanonline Tuesday.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Wednesday said some of the Libyan government’s attacks on the besieged city of Misrata could constitute international crimes.
A statement from Navi Pillay’s office said she condemned “the reported repeated use of cluster munitions and heavy weaponry by Libyan government forces in their attempt to regain control of the besieged city of Misrata, and said that such attacks on densely populated urban areas, resulting in substantial civilian casualties, could amount to international crimes.”
“The pro-government forces besieging the city, including their commanders and all other personnel, should be aware that — with the International Criminal Court investigating possible crimes — their orders and actions will be subject to intense scrutiny,” Pillay said in the statement. “Under international law, the deliberate targeting of medical facilities is a war crime, and the deliberate targeting or reckless endangerment of civilians may also amount to serious violations of international human rights law or international humanitarian law.”
UNICEF, the U.N. children’s agency, said Wednesday that 20 children have been killed and “countless others injured” in Misrata alone.
Among rebels, calls for help have been increasing each day.
Aid agencies are afraid of going to areas such as Misrata, which is being targeted by Gadhafi troops, opposition activist Mohamed Ibrahim said. “Some of them, they come. But most of them, they come near … they hear the shelling and everything and they go back,” he said.
At least 27 people have been killed and 142 have been injured this week, according to an opposition spokesman who wanted to be identified only as “Mohammed” for safety reasons.
Aid groups have been attempting to pluck desperate people from Misrata, which is hemmed in by Gadhafi’s forces on three sides.
The only escape route is by the city’s port — an area witnesses said has also been shelled by Gadhafi’s forces.
For those left behind, witnesses say, the dire situation continues to deteriorate. The city is still without water, electricity, and telecommunications, Mohammed said Tuesday. “Shelling has moved out of the industrial areas to the residential areas, and it is still going on.”
Rebel spokesman Abdulmolah said the opposition’s Transitional National Council is not opposed to a humanitarian mission on the ground.
“Something needs to be done so we can stop the bloodshed of our people,” he said.
But “we do not want any foreign military presence or any international fighters along with our rebels,” he added.
Libyan Foreign Minister al-Obeidi said the government would consider a cease-fire in Misrata if it was on both sides. “I think the only way is give peace a chance” through a general cease-fire, he told ITN.
NATO is leading an international military operation that includes targeting Gadhafi’s military resources with airstrikes.
NATO said the operation has destroyed seven ammunition bunkers in the Tripoli area as well as equipment in several other parts of the country this week.
NATO attacked three regime battle tanks and a vehicle-mounted artillery piece in and around Misrata on Tuesday, British military spokesman Maj. Gen. John Lorimer said in a statement Wednesday.
Abdulmolah said NATO strikes may have also prevented more destruction in eastern Libya, particularly near Benghazi.
“We received reports that Gadhafi forces were mobilizing their troops and their mobile missiles/rockets systems from Brega towards Ajdabiya to bomb Benghazi. They were stopped by (Tuesday’s) NATO strikes,” he said.
But he said the opposition wants “technical assistance” and weapons “because we are facing a merciless tyrant who wants to slaughter his own people just because they asked for freedom and liberty.”
Mfarhanonline’s Saad Abedine, Andreena Narayan, Reza Sayah, Yousuf Basil, Ben Wedeman and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
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