AFRICOM Related News Clips 24 March 2011

8/7/2019 AFRICOM Related News Clips 24 March 2011

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United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office24 March 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

TOP NEWS RELATED TO U.S. AFRICA COMMAND AND AFRICA

Shady Dealings Helped Qaddafi Build Fortune and Regime(New York Times)(Libya) In 2009, top aides to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi called together 15 executivesfrom global energy companies operating in Libyas oil fields and issued anextraordinary demand: Shell out the money for his countrys $1.5 billion bill for its role

in the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 and other terrorist attacks.

U.S. mission in Libya muddled: experts (Xinhua)(Libya) While the United States is continuing its bid in the West-led air strikes againstLibya, its mission is not altogether clear, analysts said.

Roughead: Ships Were Ready for Odyssey Dawn (American Forces Press Service)(Libya) While Operation Odyssey Dawn brewed up quickly, the U.S. Navy already waspositioned for operations over Libya, the chief of naval operations said here today.

Boehner Presses Obama on Libya Action (NYT)(Libya) The House speaker, John A. Boehner, on Wednesday pressed President Obamato clarify what the administration hoped to achieve through military intervention inLibya, as top Senate Democrats defended the presidents handling of the crisis.

Obama Likely Won't Need To Seek More Funds For Libya Action(Wall StreetJournal)(Libya) While estimates suggest military action to quell unrest in Libya will top $1billion in costs, President Barack Obama likely won't need to beg Congress for moremoney.

Five Days into Operation Odyssey Dawn, Costs Mounting(National Journal)(Libya) U.S. officials said on Wednesday that coalition forces have suppressedMuammar el-Qaddafis air defenses, but his ground forces continue to targetpopulation centers in Libya, feeding concerns that the operation could ultimately costthe United States billions -- and require the Pentagon to request emergency fundingfrom Congress to pay for it.


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US Pressures Allies to Take Libya Mission Now (ABC)(Libya) The United States turned up the pressure on quarreling NATO allies to takecommand of the air war in Libya on Wednesday, suggesting the U.S. could step awayfrom its leadership role as soon as this weekend, even with the conflict's outcome indoubt.

U.S., allies attack targets across Libya but haven't stopped Kadafi (LA Times)(Libya) Col. Muammar Kadafi's forces intensified attacks in opposition-held cities,creating panic in the town of Misurata, even as U.S. and allied warplanes broadenedtheir airstrikes across the country, U.S. military officers and eyewitnesses said.

Fears grow of humanitarian crisis in besieged Libyan city (Washington Post)(Libya) Aid organizations scrambled Wednesday to prepare for large-scale reliefoperations in Libya, as fears grew of a potential humanitarian crisis in a key citybesieged by government forces.

US role in Libya mission: Top Democrats say Obama got it right (Christian ScienceMonitor)Libya - With Congress in recess, the response on Capitol Hill to President Obamasdecision to commit US forces to a new mission in Libya has been sporadic, mixed, andmainly from rank-and-file members.

Libya: Rebels Form 'Interim Government' (IPS)(Libya) Libya's pro-democracy fighters have formed an "interim government" even asforces backing the country's leader, Muammar Gaddafi, press ahead with attacks

against them.

Libya: No Need for International Aid (VOA)(Libya) U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya Rashid Khalikov met with Libya'sdeputy foreign minister and deputy minister of health. The aim of his visit was tonegotiate arrangements for a U.N. mission to assess the humanitarian needs.

West African leaders meet under pressure to act on I. Coast (AFP)(Ivory Coast) West African leaders met in a summit on Wednesday under pressure totake action over Ivory Coast with Laurent Gbagbo defying their earlier threats to useforce and the country's crisis deepening.

If in Libya, why not also in Ivory Coast? (Reuters)(Ivory Coast) When Ivory Coasts election last year left the country with two menclaiming to be president and a flood of warnings of the threat of civil war, the worldsdiplomatic and media interest was unprecedented.

Satellite Images Show Build-up of Northern Forces in Sudans Abyei Region (VOA)


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(Sudan) New satellite images of Sudans Abyei region reportedly show a build-up offorces backed by Khartoum government.

South Sudan accuses north of air strike (AFP)(Sudan) South Sudan's army on Wednesday accused northern forces of bombing two

sites south of their border, further escalating tensions as the south gears up for fullindependence.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Websitey UN allocates funds for humanitarian emergency in Cote dIvoire

-------------------------------------------------------------------------UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, March 24, 2011; 9:30 am to 11:30am; Johns Hopkins SAIS

WHAT: Human Security in the DRC Seeking Solutions from the Ground UpWHO: Susan Braden, Senior Policy Advisor for the Office of Global Womens Issues atthe State Department; Nita Evele, Executive Board Member at Congo Global Action;Judithe Registere, Director of Policy & Outreach at Women for Women International;Sandra Melone, Executive Vice President, Search for Common Ground.Info:https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6060/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=22075

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, April 7, 2011; 9:30am; Dirksen Senate Office BuildingRoom SD-106

WHAT: Armed Services: Testimony on AFRICOMWHO: Full Committee; General Carter F. Ham to testifyInfo: http://armed-services.senate.gov/e_witnesslist.cfm?id=5073----------------------------------------------------------------------------------FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Shady Dealings Helped Qaddafi Build Fortune and Regime (New York Times)By Eric Lichtblau, David RohdeMarch 24, 2011(Libya) In 2009, top aides to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi called together 15 executivesfrom global energy companies operating in Libyas oil fields and issued anextraordinary demand: Shell out the money for his countrys $1.5 billion bill for its rolein the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 and other terrorist attacks.

If the companies did not comply, the Libyan officials warned, there would be seriousconsequences for their oil leases, according to a State Department summary of themeeting.


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Many of those businesses balked, saying that covering Libyas legal settlement withvictims families for acts of terrorism was unthinkable. But some companies, includingseveral based in the United States, appeared willing to give in to Libyas coercion andmake what amounted to payoffs to keep doing business, according to industryexecutives, American officials and State Department documents.

The episode and others like it, the officials said, reflect a Libyan culture rife withcorruption, kickbacks, strong-arm tactics and political patronage since the United Statesreopened trade with Colonel Qaddafis government in 2004. As American andinternational oil companies, telecommunications firms and contractors moved into theLibyan market, they discovered that Colonel Qaddafi or his loyalists often sought toextract millions of dollars in signing bonuses and consultancy contracts orinsisted that the strongmans sons get a piece of the action through shotgunpartnerships.

Libya is a kleptocracy in which the regime either the al-Qadhafi family itself or itsclose political allies has a direct stake in anything worth buying, selling or owning,a classified State Department cable said in 2009, using the departments spelling ofQaddafi.

The wealth that Colonel Qaddafis family and his government accumulated with thehelp of international corporations in the years since the lifting of economic sanctions bythe West helped fortify his hold on his country. While the outcome of the militaryintervention under way by the United States and allied countries is uncertain, ColonelQaddafis resources including a stash of tens of billions of dollars in cash that

American officials believe he is using to pay soldiers, mercenaries and supporters may help him avert, or at least delay, his removal from power.

The government not only exploited corporations eager to do business, but willinggovernments as well. Libyas banks apparently collected lucrative fees by helping Iranlaunder huge sums of money in recent years in violation of international sanctions onTehran, according to another cable from Tripoli included in a batch of classifieddocuments obtained by WikiLeaks. In 2009, the cable said, American diplomats warnedLibyan officials that its dealings with Iran were jeopardizing Libyas enhanced worldstanding for the sake of potential short-term business gains.

In the first few years after trade restrictions were lifted Colonel Qaddafi had givenup his countrys nuclear capabilities and pledged to renounce terrorism manyAmerican companies were hesitant to do business with Libyas government, officialssaid. But with an agreement on a settlement over Libyas role in the Pan Am bombingover Lockerbie, Scotland, finally reached in 2008, officials at the United StatesCommerce Department began to serve as self-described matchmakers for Americanbusinesses.


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At least a dozen American corporations, including Boeing, Raytheon, ConocoPhillips,Occidental, Caterpillar and Halliburton, gained footholds, or tried to do so. In May, theObama administration and the Qaddafi government signed a new trade agreement,designed, according to Gene Cretz, the American ambassador to Libya, to broaden and

deepen our bilateral economic relations.

Libya became so flush with cash that Bernard L. Madoff, the New York financialmanager who stole billions of dollars in a long-running Ponzi scheme, approachedofficials overseeing the countrys $70 billion sovereign fund a few years ago about aninvestment opportunity, according to a State Department summary of the episode in2010. We did not accept, a Libyan official reported.

Colonel Qaddafi, the State Department said, was personally involved in many businessdecisions. He worked with local riqaba councils, an oversight committee set up by the

Libyan government to dole out business with foreign firms, and insisted on signing offon all contracts worth more than $200 million. He also learned how to hide money andinvestments in case sanctions were ever imposed again, as they recently have been.

Colonel Qaddafi and his family set up accounts in banks around the world that are inthe names of members of Libyan tribes that remain loyal to his government, said IdrisAbdulla Abed al-Sonosi, a member of the exiled Libyan royal family, who is familiarwith many of Colonel Qaddafis business dealings. (Some accounts may have beenfrozen by authorities, who have blocked access to tens of billions of dollars.) AndQaddafi relatives adopted lavish lifestyles including posh homes, Hollywood film

investments and private parties with American pop stars.

When Colonel Qaddafi was not making the decisions, one of his sons whom he hasanointed to run various sectors of the countrys economy often was.

Daniel E. Karson, executive managing partner at Kroll, a risk-consulting firm, recalledin an interview that an international communications company he represented tried toenter the Libyan cellular phone market in 2007. From the outset, Libyan officials made itclear that the foreign companys local business partner would have to be MuhammadQaddafi, the eldest son of the Libyan ruler.

We advised them they would have to go through Muhammad Qaddafi, said Mr.Karson, who declined to identify the client. This was not going to be done on the basisof, as they say in retail, price, quality and delivery. Fearful of going into business withthe Qaddafis, he said, the company made no investments in Libya.

Coca-Cola got caught in the middle of a fierce dispute between Muhammad Qaddafiand his brother Mutassim over control of a bottling plant the soda maker had opened in


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2005, forcing it to shut down the plant for months amid armed confrontations, adiplomatic cable noted.

Coca-Cola got caught in the middle of a fierce dispute between Muhammad Qaddafiand his brother Mutassim over control of a bottling plant the soda maker had opened in

2005, forcing it to shut down the plant for months amid armed confrontations, adiplomatic cable noted.---------------------U.S. mission in Libya muddled: experts (Xinhua)By Matthew RuslingMarch 24, 2011(Libya) While the United States is continuing its bid in the West-led air strikes againstLibya, its mission is not altogether clear, analysts said.

All of a sudden the United States has found itself in this position of bombing Libya

without any real understanding of what comes next," said Bayless Parsley, Africaanalyst at global intelligence company STRATFOR. "What if Gaddafi doesn't fall? Noone wants to put boots on the ground, but how do they plan on finishing the job?"

The mission is aimed at enforcing UN Security Council Resolution 1973, which calls onLibyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to withdraw his forces from towns held by rebels.The resolution also calls for the establishment of a no-fly zone to protect civilians fromGaddafi's attacks.

The no-fly mission takes place while unrest is sweeping through the Arab world,

toppling governments in Tunisia and Egypt along the way. Turmoil in Libya eruptednot long after Egyptians clogged Cairo's Tahrir Square and ended the decades-long ruleof Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Some analysts, however, argued that the United States has left a number of blankswhere the answers should already have been filled in.

In addition to the UN resolution, U.S. President Barack Obama has also called for anend to the government of Gaddafi, but simply establishing a no-fly zone may not bringabout that outcome, some experts said.

The Obama administration said the mission will be completed by week's end, but theU.S. president has not yet outlined an exit strategy - critics said the strategy is ad hoc -and infighting among NATO allies is prolonging a handover of command responsibilityfrom the U.S. forces.


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Indeed, recent days have seen the Arab League to express reservations about NATOovertaking operations, according to CNN, and the organization has also voicedconcerns over some U.S. tactics, such as bombing ground targets.

On Wednesday, President Obama announced in a speech from El Salvador that the

handover would happen within a few days.

"We will continue to support the efforts to protect the Libyan people, but we will not bein the lead," he said.

Michael O'Hanlon, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said U.S. goals in Libyaare muddled.

Still, Washington means to first send a clear message that the United States meansbusiness, and the sooner Gaddafi accepts the UN resolution, the easier it will be for him,

he said.

Second, the U.S. forces want to stop Gaddafi's onslaught of rebel strongholds. Thatmeans the United States is willing to attack tanks and go beyond no-fly operations, hesaid.

"We are trying to keep the option of expanding our goals," he said, adding the no-flyzone is being conducted against the backdrop of an administration that wants Gaddafigone.

"I think there's a little bit of confusion but 90 to 95 percent of our thinking is that we'reafter a ceasefire and protection of civilians," O'Hanlon said. "And we are keeping alivethat little bit of possibility, however unlikely, that Gaddafi himself could be driven outof power as a result of the operation we are contributing to."

Others fault the U.S. president for not deciding on the terms of the mission before theallied forces went in. Still others blast Obama for not first consulting with the Congress.The administration's supporters, however, contend that the no-fly zone is not a war andthat the president needs not consult with lawmakers.

Meanwhile, Gaddafi remains defiant. On Tuesday, in his first televised speech since theallied bombing began, the Libyan leader said "we will not surrender" in the face of theU.S. and allied attacks.

The operation, he said, "is by a bunch of fascists who will end up in the dustbin ofhistory."---------------------Roughead: Ships Were Ready for Odyssey Dawn (American Forces Press Service)


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By Jim GaramoneMarch 23, 2011WASHINGTON While Operation Odyssey Dawn brewed up quickly, the U.S. Navyalready was positioned for operations over Libya, the chief of naval operations saidhere today.

Navy Adm. Gary Roughead told the Defense Writers Group that having Navy shipsand submarines in the Mediterranean Sea enabled a quick response to the order thatbegan Operation Odyssey Dawn.

The need, for example in the opening rounds, for the Tomahawk strikes, the shooterswere already in place, Roughead said. They were already loaded, and that went off aswe expected it would.

The Navys top officer said he is pleased overall with the operation so far. The actions

against Libya marked the first time the converted ballistic missile submarine USSFlorida was used in combat, and basing the coalitions joint task force aboard the USSMount Whitney has provided flexibility, he added.

Roughead said he also is pleased with the performance of the EA-18G Growler, theNavys newest electronic warfare aircraft. The five-jet squadron had been flyingmissions over Iraq, but was quickly moved and began flying missions in support ofOperation Odyssey Dawn just 47 hours after recovering from operations over Iraq, hesaid.

The admiral also praised the tactical recovery of two F-15E Strike Eagle airmen whoejected over Libya when their jet had mechanical problems. The USS Kearsargelaunched a V-22 Osprey that got in quickly and made the recovery, he said.

The way it came together, the synchronicity of operations, the involvement andcoordination among the different participants [went] quite well, he added.

Roughead said the Navy can continue supporting operations as long as it takes.

Thats what you get when you have a global Navy thats forward all the time, he said.We dont surge, and we dont ride to the sound of the guns. Were there, and when theguns go off, were ready to conduct combat operations, or, as you see in Japan, ready toconduct some pretty extensive humanitarian operations.

In the run-up to the operations, the admiral told the group, the Joint Chiefs of Staffdeliberated on the military actions that would be required. Roughead said he wasparticularly concerned about Moammar Gadhafis integrated air and missile defensesystem. Though the system was old, he said, I dont take any of that for granted. If


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someone is going to put a missile in the air, you dont say, Oh, its an old one, Ill worryabout it later.

Logistics was another concern, Roughead said, but the Navys robust presence in theMediterranean comes with re-supply ships afloat and depots ashore. The global supply

chain has worked well, he said, adding that he anticipates no problem in keepingoperations going.

From a funding standpoint, Roughead told the defense writers, the operations are notespecially costly.

When you look at the expenses of what we in the Navy incurred, given the fact that wewere already there, those costs are sunk for me. Im already paying for that, he said.

The service did incur additional flying hours, and the Tomahawks will be replaced from

the existing inventory, Roughead said. More than 3,200 Tomahawks are in theinventory, and the missiles used in the operation represent relatively minor increasesin cost, he added.---------------------Boehner Presses Obama on Libya Action (NYT)By CARL HULSEMarch 23, 2011WASHINGTON The House speaker, John A. Boehner, on Wednesday pressedPresident Obama to clarify what the administration hoped to achieve through militaryintervention in Libya, as top Senate Democrats defended the presidents handling of the

crisis.

In a letter made public as the president returned from his Latin American trip, Mr.Boehner said the administration had sent conflicting messages about its goals in Libya.He said the public deserved a fuller explanation of the objectives of the military missionand how the White House will measure success.

It is regrettable that no opportunity was afforded to consult with Congressionalleaders, as was the custom of your predecessors, before your decision as commander inchief to deploy into combat the men and women of our armed forces, Mr. Boehnersaid, reiterating a bipartisan complaint raised by lawmakers in recent days.

Earlier, Mr. Boehner had struck a more neutral tone, saying America had a moralobligation to help opponents of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi while urging the WhiteHouse to define its intent. But Wednesdays letter illustrated mounting Congressionalwariness over the use of force without fuller participation by the House and Senate aswell as uncertainty over how long American military units would lead the militaryaction.


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With Congress out of town, three Senate allies of Mr. Obama came to his defense,predicting the president would win bipartisan backing for the countrys role in Libya ifit came to a vote when Congress returns from a one-week break next week.

In a conference call with reporters, Senator Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat wholeads the Armed Services Committee, also said he expected United States military forcesto hand off responsibility for enforcing the no-fly zone in a matter of days, not weeks.

Mr. Levin, joined by Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat,and Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, a former Army officer, pushed backagainst bipartisan complaints from Congress that the president had exceeded hisauthority in sending military forces into Libya.

He has proceeded in a way that is cautious and thoughtful, Mr. Levin said. He has

put the ducks in a row before he decided the United States should take the lead for ashort period of time to do what only we could do.

The Libyan crisis is certain to be a main topic for lawmakers when Congressreconvenes. But the three Democrats said they could not predict whether a floor votewould be forced on the role of the United States or if American forces would still bedeeply involved in Libya next week. But they noted that critics of the intervention couldchallenge the president under the War Powers Act.

In contrast to others in Congress, Mr. Durbin said he believed he had been kept

apprised of developments in Libya but said Congress would receive more informationwhen it reconvenes.

Trust me, when we return this week I am sure we will have a complete briefing fromthe administration on this entire situation, he said.

Mr. Boehner suggested in his letter that the administration had consulted more closelywith the United Nations and the Arab League than with Congress. He said theadministration had called for Colonel Qaddafi to be removed from office while backinga United Nations resolution that does not call for regime change.

Because of the conflicting messages from the administration and our coalitionpartners, there is a lack of clarity over the objectives of this mission, what our nationalsecurity interests are, and how it fits into our overarching policy for the Middle East,Mr. Boehner said.--------------------Obama Likely Won't Need To Seek More Funds For Libya Action (Wall StreetJournal)


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By Jared A. FavoleMarch 23, 2011WASHINGTON -While estimates suggest military action to quell unrest in Libya willtop $1 billion in costs, President Barack Obama likely won't need to beg Congress formore money.

The reason: the U.S. annually sets aside a certain amount of money for emergencymilitary action and humanitarian relief. And the costs for aircraft and weapons, such asthe more than 150 Tomahawk missiles launched by U.S.-led forces in Libya, havealready been absorbed.

A report released earlier this month by the Center for Strategic and BudgetaryAssessments, an independent policy research institute, estimated the initial cost ofinstituting a no-fly zone over Libya at $500 million to $1 billion. It would cost anadditional $100 million to $300 million each week to continue the no-fly zone, the report

says.Obama, speaking in El Salvador Tuesday, said because U.S. military action in Libya is"limited in time, scope, with a well-defined mission, we're confident that this issomething that we can budget as part of our overall operations."

That is likely a relief to the president as the U.S. Congress has already criticized Obamafor not doing enough outreach before authorizing military action against forces loyal toCol. Moammar Gadhafi. Also, any request for additional spending would likely fall flatas Congress is mired in a debate about how to slash government spending.

A lawmaker from Obama's own party, Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, saidTuesday he planned to offer an amendment to the next federal spending bill to blockfunding for military activities in Libya.It's unclear exactly how much money the U.S. has set aside, so the Obamaadministration may have to request funds if the conflict drags on. The White HouseOffice of Management and Budget didn't immediately respond to requests forcomment.

At a press breakfast Wednesday, U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Rougheaddeclined to say whether the Navy would seek additional supplemental funds to coverLibya costs as well as Japan relief operations. But he added that naval vessels werealready in the Mediterranean as part of a planned deployment cycle.

"When you look at the expenses of what we in the Navy incur, given the fact that theforces are already there, those costs are sunk for me, I'm already paying for that," hesaid.


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Adm. Roughead said the Navy did boost flying hours for some aircraft, although manyof those flying hours were already anticipated in the operating budget. The Tomahawkmissiles that have rained down on Gadhafi-controlled targets are already paid for andcan be replaced with existing funds, he said.

Costs to the U.S. would also likely fall as it transfers the lead in the conflict to othercountries. Diplomats and officials have been working for the last several days todetermine what country would shoulder the military campaign and what role theNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization would play.------------------------Five Days into Operation Odyssey Dawn, Costs Mounting(National Journal)By Megan ScullyMarch 23, 2011; 1:35 p.m.U.S. officials said on Wednesday that coalition forces have suppressed Muammar el-Qaddafis air defenses, but his ground forces continue to target population centers in

Libya, feeding concerns that the operation could ultimately cost the United Statesbillions -- and require the Pentagon to request emergency funding from Congress to payfor it.

Five days into Operation Odyssey Dawn, the bill racked up by the U.S. alone isundoubtedly already in the hundreds of millions of dollars. And the U.S. military,which remains in the lead now, will continue to pump millions more into strikestargeting military assets in Libya.

The cost of war is often as unpredictable as war itself -- a lesson the U.S. military

learned the hard way on Monday when it lost its first major piece of equipment, an F-15fighter aircraft that crashed because of a mechanical failure.

After nearly a decade at war, the Pentagon has routinely leveraged emergency fundingto replace older fighters lost in battle with fifth-generation stealth aircraft. And, if theLibya operation is no exception, the Defense Department could seek to buy an extra F-35 -- with a price tag of more than $100 million -- to replace the downed F-15.

The ultimate total the United States spends will hinge on the length and scope of thestrikes as well as on the contributions of coalition allies. But Todd Harrison, a seniorfellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said the U.S. costs couldeasily pass the $1 billion mark on this operation, regardless of how well things go.

The Pentagon has the money in its budget to cover unexpected contingencies and canalso use fourth-quarter dollars to cover the costs of operations now. Theyre very usedto doing this operation where they borrow from Peter to pay Paul, said GordonAdams, who served as the Office of Management and Budgets associate director fornational security during the Clinton administration.


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However, there comes a point when there simply isnt enough cash to pay foreverything. The White House said this week it was not prepared to request emergencyfunding yet, but former Pentagon comptroller Dov Zakheim estimated the DefenseDepartment would need to send a request for supplemental funding to Capitol Hill if

the U.S. militarys share of Libya operations expenses tops $1 billion.

Such a request would likely be met with mixed reactions in a Congress focused ondeficit reduction. And while many key lawmakers have been agitating for action inLibya, others have been more reluctant and have increasingly raised concerns about themounting costs.

Senate Foreign Relations ranking member Richard Lugar, R-Ind., argued that Congressshould have had the opportunity to weigh in on what he has warned will be a veryexpensive operation. U.S. budget dollars -- not to mention heavily deployed troops --

are simply spread too thin, he says.

Congress has been squabbling for months over a budget to run the federal governmentfor a fiscal year that is almost half over, Lugar said. We argue over where to cut$100,000 million here and there from programs many people like. So here comes anopen-ended military action with no-end game envisioned.

So far, the operation has focused on creating a limited no-fly zone mostly targeting thecapital city of Tripoli, which is Qaddafis stronghold, and other areas along the coast.That will require a wide range of military assets.

In a report released earlier this month, Harrison estimated that the initial stages oftaking out Qaddafis coastal air defenses would cost between $400 million and $800million. But the coalition is now targeting his ground forces in an effort to protectcivilians -- a factor that Harrison said will drive up the initial costs of the operation.

At some point, though, we will have degraded his forces to the point that there are notthat many targets left, Harrison said on Monday. So wed expect to see the sortie ratestart to drop off.

Meanwhile, Harrison estimated that maintaining a coastal no-fly zone after those initialstrikes would cost in the range of $30 million to $100 million per week.

As Lugar and others have stressed, these unanticipated costs come at a time when thePentagon is putting pressure on Capitol Hill to pass its fiscal 2011 budget. Continuingto operate under a stopgap continuing resolution through September, senior Defenseofficials argue, would amount to a $23 billion cut to the militarys request for the


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current fiscal year, which began on October 1. The Pentagon wants $708.3 billion forthis year, including $159.3 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

For the U.S. military, the highest costs of the operations over Libya come in the form ofmunitions, fuel for aircraft, and combat pay for deployed troops -- all factors that will

pile up each day U.S. forces remain at the helm of the operation.

By late Tuesday, U.S.-led forces launched 162 long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles,which cost about $1 million to $1.5 million apiece, from ships stationed off the Libyancoast. The total to replace those missiles comes to between $162 million and $243million. It is unclear how many of those Tomahawks came from the U.S. inventory, butit is believed the vast majority did.

The Defense Department typically buys about 200 Tomahawks a year. While themilitary likely can put off buying new missiles for months, it will ultimately need to

boost planned procurement rates to refill its stockpile.

Defense budget watchers said the deployment of guided missile destroyers andsubmarines would not put a major dent in the Pentagons accounts because the shipswere already deployed to the region. But the U.S. military has tapped its B-2 bombers aswell as F-15 and F-16 fighter jets to strike a number of targets, undoubtedly forcing animmediate uptick in the militarys operations and maintenance expenditures, includingfuel costs.

The military flew the three bombers deployed for the mission from Missouris

Whiteman Air Force Base, a nearly 12,000-mile round trip that will incur significant fueland maintenance costs, Harrison said.

Meanwhile, it generally costs $10,000 per hour, including maintenance and fuel, tooperate F-15s and F-16s. Those costs do not include the payloads dropped from theaircraft. The B-2s dropped 45 Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMS, which are 2,000-pound bombs that cost between $30,000 and $40,000 apiece to replace.

Army Gen. Carter Ham, the Odyssey Dawn operational commander, said allies arestepping up to shoulder much of the mission. But it appears the United States is stillflying the majority of sorties. Between Tuesday and Wednesday morning, the U.S.aircraft flew 113 sorties, while coalition aircraft logged 63.

But Rear Adm. Gerard Hueber, the operations chief of staff, stressed on Wednesdaythat coalition participation has increased dramatically from just 15 percent of sortiesthree days ago.


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On the personnel front, special pay for soldiers involved in the operation will kick inimmediately -- unlike the munitions costs, which the Pentagon can defer.

A weeklong operation involving a limited number of U.S. troops would be manageablewithin the existing defense budget. But if it drags on for weeks and months, the

Pentagon would likely have to do some maneuvering.

Complicating matters is the fact that most of the coalition nations militaries, whichoperate on a fraction of the Pentagons yearly allowance, are grappling with budgetpressures of their own. While the Defense Department hopes to transfer control tocoalition partners in the coming days, the longer the operations over Libya continue, themore difficult it will be for allies to take the lead.

If it goes on more than a month, were going to be in the forefront [of operations] orwere going to let Qaddafi stick around, predicted former Defense comptroller

Zakheim, who served under President George W. Bush. The choices arent verypleasant.----------------------US Pressures Allies to Take Libya Mission Now (ABC)By Lolita Baldor and Robert BurnsMarch 23, 2011The United States turned up the pressure on quarreling NATO allies to take commandof the air war in Libya on Wednesday, suggesting the U.S. could step away from itsleadership role as soon as this weekend, even with the conflict's outcome in doubt.

In Congress, meanwhile, the Republican speaker of the House demanded that PresidentBarack Obama quickly spell out the nation's precise goals in Libya. White Houseofficials said Obama would keep updating the American people and a formal addresswas possible. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said order could be resolvedquickly if Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi would just quit.

The U.S. threat to give up its leadership of the military efforts rang somewhat hollow,since officials said there was no absolute deadline to hand over frontline control to othercountries, or for an end to all U.S. participation. Still, the administration is eager to handoff the lead role in a conflict that some of Obama's closest advisers resisted and that israising complaints in Congress.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, himself an early skeptic American military interventionin Libya, said Obama made clear from the start of the international air campaign lastSaturday that the U.S. would run it for only about a week. The assault began with abarrage of U.S. cruise missiles fired by ships and submarines in the Mediterranean andwith American Stealth bomber flights the first war initiated by a president whoinherited two others.


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In an exchange with reporters traveling with him in Cairo on Wednesday, Gates wasasked whether his comments meant the U.S. had set a hard deadline of this Saturday forturning over command of the air operations.

"I don't want to be pinned down that closely," he replied. "But what we've been sayingis that we would expect this transition to the coalition, to a different command andcontrol arrangement, to take place within a few days and I would still stand by that."

The U.S. and its partners are struggling to overcome a key dilemma of their mission:how to halt Gadhafi's ground forces, which are now attacking urban areas, withoutendangering the very civilians the allies are supposed to protect.

As Obama returned to Washington from a three-nation tour of Latin America,Democrats lined up in support of his Libya approach. Congressional liberals and

conservatives have criticized the president some accusing him of acting too slowly,others saying he moved too quickly. Some have said he should have asked forCongress' approval before committing U.S. troops to combat.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said that when Gadhafi starteda violent crackdown on his people, Obama moved with "unprecedented speed," andwhen Gadhafi remained defiant, Obama worked with allies and the Arab nations. Hecalled it a "prudent course of action for the president and for our nation."

But Republican Boehner, in a letter to the White House, said Obama still must provide a

clear and robust assessment of the mission and how it will be achieved. Boehner did notcall for a vote in the House on the commitment of U.S. military resources, as somelawmakers have demanded.

Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters traveling with thepresident that it would be "a matter of days" for the transition away from U.S.leadership.

An American Army general now oversees the campaign from Europe, and an AmericanNavy admiral is the day-to-day commander from a floating command post off theLibyan coast.

"There is an agreement that NATO is going to play a very important role on commandand control," Rhodes said, adding that details on the structure and shaping of thetransition were still under discussion.

French and British officials said U.S., European, and Arab and African officials havebeen invited to London next week for political talks about Libya and how the NATO


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alliance will assume responsibility for a no-fly zone that has been established to keepGadhafi's planes out of the air over his country.

Administration officials conceded there is no clear end to the fighting, although thePentagon contended that Gadhafi's air force is essentially defeated and coalition planes

are targeting more of his ground forces. U.S. officials said other countries are flying alarger share of the combat strikes alongside U.S. warplanes.

The Pentagon said that over the past day, the coalition flew 175 air missions, includingnoncombat flights. Of that total, 113 flights, or about 65 percent, were flown by U.S.planes, and 62 by other nations' aircraft. Three days earlier, the U.S. share was 87percent, the Pentagon said.

Obama was asked in an interview with the Spanish-language network Univision if aland invasion would be out of the question in the event air strikes failed to dislodge

Gadhafi. Obama called it "absolutely" out of the question.

Asked what the exit strategy is, Obama didn't lay out a vision for ending theinternational action, but rather said: "The exit strategy will be executed this week in thesense that we will be pulling back from our much more active efforts to shape theenvironment."

"We'll still be in a support role, we'll still be providing jamming and intelligence andother assets that are unique to us, but this is an international effort that's designed toaccomplish the goals that were set out in the Security Council resolution," Obama said.

Gates said the allied mission in Libya was clear but the outcome was not.

"I think there are any number of possible outcomes here, and no one is in a position topredict them," Gates said. One possibility, he said, is that Gadhafi, who has ruled theNorth African nation for 42 years, could see more major defections from within hisruling circle or more divisions within his family.

Clinton sounded a similar note.

"Gadhafi has a decision to make," she told reporters at the State Department. "And thepeople around him each have decisions to make. The quickest way for him to end this isto actually serve the Libyan people by leaving."

Gadhafi has remained defiant, however, vowing to resist to the end. Clinton had saidon Tuesday that the U.S. had received reports of possibly dubious veracity thatsome in Gadhafi's inner circle were looking for a way out.


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In a telephone interview with reporters at the Pentagon from aboard his command ship,the USS Mount Whitney, in the Mediterranean, Navy Rear Adm. Gerard Hueberasserted that Gadhafi's air force had essentially been defeated. He said no Libyanaircraft had attempted to fly over the previous 24 hours.

"Those aircraft have either been destroyed or rendered inoperable," Hueber said.

He said, "There is widespread reporting indicating Libyan ground forces are engaged infighting in a number of cities, including Ajdabiya and Misrata, and they are threateninga number of others, putting innocent civilians in grave danger."--------------------U.S., allies attack targets across Libya but haven't stopped Kadafi (LA Times)By David S. Cloud and Borzou DaragahiMarch 23, 2011, 4:19 p.m.Col. Muammar Kadafi's forces intensified attacks in opposition-held cities, creating

panic in the town of Misurata, even as U.S. and allied warplanes broadened theirairstrikes across the country, U.S. military officers and eyewitnesses said.

Despite the increasing presence of allied aircraft overhead, Kadafi has rushed to putdown the remaining pockets of the rebellion that has threatened his rule.

In the rebel-held town of Misurata, government forces resumed their assaultWednesday evening despite allied airstrikes for the second day on the outskirts of thecity.

Witnesses there said Kadafi's tanks closed in on a large medical center used to treat theinjured and as a gathering point for the opposition. Rockets fired by Libyan units havelanded within 100 yards of the facility.

"The situation is very serious here in Misurata," said an opposition supporter in the cityreached Wednesday evening. "The tanks are coming again to the center of Misurata cityand they are bombing the hospital at this time."

U.S. officers said that the U.S.-led campaign is not conducting airstrikes inside urbanareas in order to avoid causing civilian casualties. By avoiding close air attacks in cities,allied planners may be hoping to avoid accidental civilian killings that would undercutpolitical support for the campaign.

"We're not going into the cities," a senior U.S. officer said, referring to the air strikes."There's an extra amount of effort placed on preventing civilian casualties by ouractions."


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Instead, the allied warplanes are hitting Libyan units outside cities, as well as supplylines and headquarters facilities, in hopes of pressuring them to halt attacks againstcivilians, the officers said.

But the limitation on the allied strikes also appeared to give Kadafi's troops, once they

are deployed inside rebel-held cities, freedom to carry out attacks relativelyunmolested, at least for the time being.

Rear Adm. Gerard Hueber, a U.S. naval officer involved in directing the air campaign,said that U.S. and allied aircraft were extending their operations westward fromBenghazi and were now attacking Libyan army targets across the country.

Even so, Heuber conceded Kadafi's forces had intensifying their attacks against rebelareas in the last day, despite the stepped-up air campaign.

"In Ajdabiya, regime forces intensified combat in, into and out of the city. In Misurata,regime forces continue to clear opposition, increase combat operations and targetcivilian populations in the city," he told reporters at the Pentagon from a ship off Libya'scoast.

The signs that Kadafi is moving forces and targeting opponents highlights the growingquestions about how soon the U.S. will be able to hand off responsibility for the airoperation to its allies and whether they will be forced to escalate their confrontationwith Kadafi in order to achieve even the limited goals of deterring his attacks oncivilians.

House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday presented the White House with a series ofpointed questions about its U.S. military strategy and goals for the continued campaign.

"I and many other members of the House of Representatives are troubled that U.S.military resources were committed to war without clearly defining for the Americanpeople, the Congress, and our troops what the mission in Libya is," wrote Boehner, R-Ohio.

If Kadafi's forces are able to further suppress opposition to his regime without sufferingsevere losses from the allied airstrikes in coming days, the situation in Libya might turninto a lengthy stalemate, with pockets of opposition in parts of the country but Kadafistill in power in Tripoli and other areas.

At least four powerful explosions consistent with air strikes or cruise missile strikescould be heard in central Tripoli Wednesday night at around 11 p.m., apparently fromthe direction of Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi's Bab Aziziya residential compound.


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The senior U.S. officer offered no timetable for how long the U.S. and its allies wereprepared to let this limited airstrikes continue, or how the international effort could beescalated, if Kadafi continued defies international calls to withdraw his forces.

Over a 24-hour period, beginning at 6 am Tuesday, U.S. warplanes carried out 28

airstrikes and small but unknown number were carried out by planes from othercountries, the officer said.

Allied warplanes destroyed two missile sites around the capital, Tripoli, and also hit agovernment ammunition depot outside the city of Misrata and Libyan Army groundforces around Ajdabiya, the eastern city where large numbers of Libyan troops remain.

A witness in Misurata said the airstrike on the ammunition depot caused an earth-shaking explosion and sent a fireball into the sky early Wednesday morning at around 2a.m. An earlier airstrike targeted the city's airfield, where troops loyal to Kadafi had

massed.

Ambassadors to NATO met for the third straight day Wednesday to try to work out anagreement on who will assume command of the operation in Libya after the U.S. stepsback from the lead. Reports suggested some progress in bridging divisions betweenalliance members such as Britain and Italy that want NATO to take command andothers, including France and Turkey, which feel a NATO command would be politicallyunwise with regard to public opinion in the Arab and Muslim world.

One compromise envisions the coalition tapping NATO military structures and

resources but leaving political command of the mission to another multilateral body.

The cracks in the coalition prompted Germany, which has opposed intervention inLibya, to pull military personnel from NATO aerial reconnassiance teams in theMediterranean so that they would not be participating in the Libya mission. But Berlinsaid it would assign 300 more troops to Afghanistan to compensate so that there wouldbe no net effect on NATO personnel.

Despite discord over the no-fly zone, NATO began helping to enforce the armsembargo against Libya. The alliance has sent six warships to waters off the Libyan coastto help "cut off the flow of arms and mercenaries" to the Kadafi regime, said NATOspokeswoman Oana Lungescu. NATO officials said alliance members have pledgedanother 16 ships to the effort.------------------------Fears grow of humanitarian crisis in besieged Libyan city (Washington Post)By Mary Beth Sheridan and Liz SlyWednesday, March 23, 9:29 PM


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Aid organizations scrambled Wednesday to prepare for large-scale relief operations inLibya, as fears grew of a potential humanitarian crisis in a key city besieged bygovernment forces.

International military forces on Wednesday stepped up attacks on government troops

in Misurata, 131 miles east of Tripoli. The airstrikes seemed to bring a temporary respitefrom the fighting that had raged for six days between forces loyal to Moammar Gaddafiand rebels, as pro-government tanks retreated from the city center.

But after nightfall, the tanks returned and resumed their attacks, according to a doctorat the citys main hospital. They are shelling everywhere, he said by telephone.

Patients were being treated on the floor, and medical supplies were falling short. Fuelfor the generator was running low, and water had been cut off, said the doctor, whospoke on the condition of anonymity because he feared retaliation by Libyan forces.

Humanitarian agencies and the U.S. government have been stockpiling supplies ineastern Libya and in nearby countries in case of emergency. I am now worried about ahumanitarian crisis in Misurata, said Mark Ward, a top official with the U.S. Agencyfor International Development.

Wednesdays military action occurred as the Obama administration tried to shore updomestic backing for its role in the Libya operation and to counter criticisms that thepresident had been either too cautious or too aggressive.

In a call with reporters, Democratic Sens. Carl Levin (Mich.), Jack Reed (R.I.) andRichard J. Durbin (Ill.) predicted strong bipartisan support for the U.S. role whenCongress reconvenes next week. Durbin said that President Obama had chosen a verywise course, reminiscent of President George H. W. Bush ... who built internationalcooperation before initiating military action against Iraqi forces in Kuwait in 1991.

But House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) sent a letter to Obama on Wednesdaysaying that he and other lawmakers were troubled that U.S. military resources werecommitted to war without clearly defining for the American people, the Congress, andour troops what the mission in Libya is and what Americas role is in achieving thatmission.

Complex environment

The allied air attacks since Saturday have only deepened the stalemate in Libya. U.S.and allied warplanes on Wednesday aimed their attacks on Gaddafis ground forces inMisurata and other key cities but were constrained by fears that strikes in heavily built-up areas could cause civilian deaths.


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Its an extremely complex and difficult environment, said U.S. Navy Rear Adm.Gerard Hueber, the chief of staff for the coalition.

U.S. military officials have repeatedly called on Gaddafis forces to pull back from

populated areas so that food, water and fuel can flow in. Humanitarian assistancemust be allowed to reach the people of Libya, Hueber said.

International aid organizations have been unable to deliver relief goods to Misurata andother contested towns. Asked whether the U.S. military might play a role in distributingemergency relief, one American official said, All options are on the table. He declinedto comment further.

In recent days, the World Food Program and International Committee of the Red Crosshave moved nearly 2,000 tons of food and other relief supplies into parts of eastern

Libya that are under the control of rebel forces. The U.S. government has paid for someof that food and has provided nongovernmental groups in Libya with medical suppliessufficient to treat 40,000 people, officials said.

Abeer Etefa, a spokeswoman with the World Food Program, said the group wasplanning emergency operations to feed 600,000 Libyans over the next three months.

She said access to food is becoming increasingly difficult because of store closures incontested areas. Her agency said this week that in some areas, the price of flour haddoubled, the cost of rice had risen 88 percent and the price of vegetable oil had jumped

58 percent.

If the situation continues like that, it will be very worrisome, simply because this is acountry that depends on food imports, said Etefa, speaking from the Libyan-Egyptianborder.

Aid agencies are able to bring supplies into eastern Libya by truck from Egypt orthrough the rebel-controlled port of Benghazi. But the Libyan government has notallowed aid workers to move freely in areas it controls, making it difficult to assess theextent of the crisis, officials said.

An Obama administration official said there were unconfirmed reports of about 80,000people displaced inside Libya by the fighting. That number is likely higher, said theofficial, who was not authorized to comment on the record.

In Brussels, NATO ambassadors continued to discuss a plan for the United States torelinquish command of the Libya mission to a broader coalition. The plan, agreed to byPresident Obama and his British and French counterparts, would turn military control


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of the operation over to NATO, with operational headquarters at the Naples-basedAllied Joint Forces Command.

Political decision-making and oversight would be supplied by a larger group ofpartners, most likely made up of NATOs North Atlantic Council and representatives

from non-NATO countries participating in the military mission, including Arab states.U.S. and European officials said they hoped for agreement on the plan by the end of theweek.

Meanwhile, Britain said it would host an international conference in London onTuesday for all countries involved in the Libya situation, including those notcontributing military assets. In addition to discussing implementation of UnitedNations resolutions on Libya, Foreign Secretary William Hague said the gatheringwould consider the humanitarian needs of the Libyan people and identify ways tosupport the people of Libya in their aspirations for a better future.

----------------------------US role in Libya mission: Top Democrats say Obama got it right (Christian ScienceMonitor)By Gail Russell ChaddockMarch 23, 2011Washington - With Congress in recess, the response on Capitol Hill to PresidentObamas decision to commit US forces to a new mission in Libya has been sporadic,mixed, and mainly from rank-and-file members.

But top Democrats on Wednesday rallied behind Mr. Obamas decision to support the

enforcement of a UN-authorized no-fly zone and avoid a massacre of Libyan civilians.

Actions taken by the international community have already prevented Qaddafi fromimplementing his threat to show no mercy to his own people, including those living inthe city of Benghazi, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.

On the Senate side, majority whip Richard Durbin (D) of Illinois, Sen. Carl Levin (D) ofMichigan, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Jack Reed (D) of RhodeIsland, a member of that panel, praised the president on Wednesday for movingforward with support from the international community, especially the Arab Leagueand the United Nations Security Council.

The president reminded us that we'd move forward in this action with the support ofthe Arab League, Senator Durbin said in a conference call on Wednesday. It may havetaken a few extra days, but I think most would agree I certainly would that I thinkthat was a very prudent course of action for the president and for our nation.


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the cost of the Libya mission and whether Congress can expect a request for emergencyfunding.

At a briefing with congressional staffers on Tuesday, Obama administration briefersducked the question on how much the mission would cost and how it would be funded.

They said that would be for another briefing, said an aide who attended the meeting.---------------------------Libya: Rebels Form 'Interim Government' (IPS)By Unattributed AuthorMarch 23, 2011Tripoli/Benghazi Libya's pro-democracy fighters have formed an "interimgovernment" even as forces backing the country's leader, Muammar Gaddafi, pressahead with attacks against them.

Heading up the new government as an interim prime minister is Mahmoud Jibril, who

had been working as a representative to foreign powers.

He is best known on the international stage for meeting Nicolas Sarkozy, the Frenchpresident, which led to France diplomatically recognising the rebels' transitional councilas the sole representative of the Libyan people.

Opposition spokesman Nisan Gouriani told Al Jazeera: "The provisional nationalcouncil is a legislative body, but we need an executive body to take control and providean administration."

He said the rebels "position has been very clear from the beginning - that Libya is oneunit".

"Our capital is Tripoli and will forever be Tripoli," he said. "We are striving to liberatethe western parts of the country, and Tripoli, and keep the country united. We wouldlike to emphasise this over and over again."

The rebels had been wary of calling their nascent administration in their Benghazistronghold an interim government, seemingly cautious of signifying a split in thecountry.

"But they remain committed to one Libya," said Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting fromBenghazi. "They want the people of Libya to remain united, just without Gaddafi."

'Real heroes'

Meanwhile, fierce fighting continued on Wednesday with forces loyal to Gaddafiattacking rebel positions across the North African state.


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Undaunted by air strikes launched by coalition warplanes aimed at enforcing a no-flyzone, pro-Gaddafi forces pressed ahead with their assaults on the towns of Misurata,Ajdabiya and Zintan in the past 24 hours.

Pro-democracy fighters ranged against Gaddafi are finding the going tough.

Mostly outgunned and with little command structure, they have been left to runsporadic raids against Gaddafi's troops, before falling back to their original lines.

But despite the little headway made by them, a rebel commander described the men as"real heroes".

"They are brave to the point of being suicidal," Mohamed Hariri told Al Jazeera.

Amid raging fighting, Gaddafi insisted he was "ready for battle, be it long or short".

"We will win this battle," he said in an address during a public appearance at his BabAl-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli that was the target on Sunday of a coalition missilestrike, Libyan state television reported.

He also railed against the coalition forces, saying: "This assault ... is by a bunch offascists who will end up in the dustbin of history."

Overnight fighting left 14 people dead and 23 injured in Misurata, pro-democracy

fighters told Al Jazeera's James Bays.

Hospital captured

"Gaddafi's forces have now taken over hospital in the town, and positioned snipers onthe roof and tanks outside," said our correspondent. "The rebels are calling for ahospital ship to be sent in, as they still control the port, and say that would save manylives, as they now have nowhere to take their injured.

"More civilian deaths have been reported in Ajdabiya and elsewhere, and they callingon international powers to interpret the U.N. resolution more widely to support themwith further attacks against Gaddafi's troops."

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reporting from Tripoli, said anti-aircraft fire eruptedovernight over the Libyan capital for the fourth successive night.

"We've been hearing big noises," she said. "We haven't seen any smoke on the horizon.People are firing guns in defiance. We're in the loyalist heartland here where people are


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utterly defiant of the international effort to force Gaddafi to surrender, as they wouldsee it."

"The anti-aircraft fire has not been as intense [as Monday night when two navalinstallations outside the city were hit]. Perhaps they feel in the immediate

neighbourhood that most of the significant targets have already been hit."

The AFP news agency reported that at least two blasts were heard at a distance beforethe capital's air defences opened fire.

In the previous night's operations, the coalition air campaign suffered its first loss withthe crash of a U.S. fighter jet in the rebel-held east.

Both crew ejected safely.

The no-fly zone is intended to protect civilians from attack by forces loyal to Gaddafi.The United States announced on Tuesday that it is shifting its focus to widen the no-flyzone across the north African country.--------------------------Libya: No Need for International Aid (VOA)By Lisa SchleinMarch 23, 2011Geneva - U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya Rashid Khalikov met with Libya'sdeputy foreign minister and deputy minister of health. The aim of his visit was tonegotiate arrangements for a U.N. mission to assess the humanitarian needs.

But he says the Libyan government was not sure the humanitarian situation in thecountry justified an international needs assessment.

"They did not say no to [an] international presence," said Khalikov. "The governmentwas of the view that there are no humanitarian needs, that the situation is undercontrol, and that the humanitarian requirements are limited to food and medicalsupplies. And they have plenty of those, according to them. They would not gobeyond that, and they would find that a little bit difficult to talk about the impact oncivilians and the impact that will make on the social services from the ongoing conflict."

Khalikov says organizing a mission presents a number of difficulties. He says all U.N.personnel need visas to enter the country and before a humanitarian assessmentmission can go ahead, the United Nations has to assess the security situation.

The U.N. coordinator was in Libya between March 12 and 16. This was before the jointoperation to enforce a U.N.-backed no-fly zone over Libya began. Therefore, he says, he


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is unable to comment on the effect the international action is having on the civilianpopulation.

However, he says, Libyan authorities took him to the city of Zawiya, about 45kilometers west of Tripoli. He says the buildings have suffered severe damage,

indicating the ferocity of the fighting that had taken place.

"I was told by the government that the situation is back to normal, and they are in fullcontrol of the situation in the city, which may be the case. I am not challenging that,"added Khalikov. "However, I saw a lot of military equipment and military personnelon the way from Tripoli to Zawiya, which is an indication that the situation is stillextremely tense in that place."

Khalikov describes the situation in Libya as very fluid and unpredictable. He says aidagencies have to be prepared for various eventualities. He says getting an international

presence inside the country is a top priority.

The U.N. official notes there is no reason to believe the humanitarian requirements inLibya are huge and that a massive intervention is necessary. Nevertheless, he sayscivilians are suffering, they are needy and the United Nations and other aid agenciesshould be allowed entry into the country to help them.--------------------------West African leaders meet under pressure to act on I. Coast (AFP)By Susan NjanjiMarch 23, 2011

ABUJA West African leaders met in a summit on Wednesday under pressure to takeaction over Ivory Coast with Laurent Gbagbo defying their earlier threats to use forceand the country's crisis deepening.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, the current chairman of west African blocECOWAS, said the two-day summit would consider whether to urge the UnitedNations to take further action on the crisis, but did not provide specifics.

"I believe we can pass a resolution to request the UN to take a little more serious stepson the Cote d'Ivoire situation," Jonathan said of the 15-nation Economic Community ofWest African States, whose summit ends Thursday.

He also said at the summit opening: "I have no doubt we have the will, the commitmentand the collective resolve to bring to an end the unfortunate crisis in Cote d'Ivoire,hopefully without resort to use of legitimate force."


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The talks at a hotel in the Nigerian capital Abuja come three months after ECOWASheld an emergency summit at which they threatened to use force if Ivorian strongmanGbagbo did not step down peacefully.

Gbagbo, deemed by his country's election authority to have lost November polls, has

remained defiant and Ivory Coast teeters on the brink of civil war.

ECOWAS has recognised Gbagbo's rival Alassane Ouattara as president, as much of theworld has also done, and suspended Ivory Coast from the bloc. But the potential use offorce seems to have been put on the back burner.

"Events in the country in the last few weeks are very worrying," AU chief Jean Ping saidin a speech read on his behalf by his chief of staff John Shinkaiye.

"Violence is escalating. I urge that the opportunity of your summit be taken to again

implore Mr. Laurent Gbagbo to do what is right for his people and his country," Pingsaid.

The AU leader had to skip the summit to address crises in northern Africa, notably inLibya.

Asked at what point force would have to be used in the Ivorian crisis, Shinkaiye toldAFP that "I cannot speculate on that."

"All I can say is that both ECOWAS and the AU agree that the use of force will be our

last resort after every other peaceful means have failed," he said.

According to the United Nations, at least 440 people have been killed in the unrest sincethe presidential vote.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's special representative for west Africa, SaidDjinnit, said at the summit opening that the UN peacekeeping force in Ivory Coast wasfacing an increasingly dangerous job.

Both Djinnit and Ping spoke of the imminent appointment of an African Union highrepresentative to follow up on recommendations from a panel of African leaders onresolving the crisis.

The ECOWAS summit, attended by the presidents of Liberia, Senegal, Benin, Mali,Togo, Cape Verde, Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso, as well as representatives from othernations, went behind closed doors after the opening speeches.


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Officials familiar with the talks said a statement on Ivory Coast was expected onThursday.

Earlier, about 100 women protested outside the ECOWAS headquarters in Abuja tourge an end to the violence in Ivory Coast.

One of them, an Ivorian, was allowed to address the summit opening, and she brokedown in tears as she pleaded with the leaders.

"The stakes are high, the casualties are increasing and the eventual outcomes mighthave regional consequences," Salimata Porquet said. She highlighted the recent killingof seven women protesters in the country.

Earlier this week, Nigerian Foreign Minister Odein Ajumogobia lashed out at theinternational community, saying the world's focus had moved to Libya as the crisis

worsened in Ivory Coast.

Ajumogobia has said the United Nations must endorse any use of force to removeGbagbo, adding that a blockade was an option if peaceful efforts fail.

That has raised questions over whether such a measure would face opposition at theUN Security Council from countries such as China or Russia.

The ECOWAS summit will also review their suspensions of Guinea and Niger, both ofwhich recently held elections to transfer power from military regimes.

--------------------If in Libya, why not also in Ivory Coast? (Reuters)By Unattributed AuthorMar 23, 2011 10:59 EDTWhen Ivory Coasts election last year left the country with two men claiming to bepresident and a flood of warnings of the threat of civil war, the worlds diplomatic andmedia interest was unprecedented.

After a turbulent four months, which have seen two North African revolutions, atsunami and near nuclear meltdown in Japan, and Libyas ongoing war, how that haschanged. The West African nations crisis is grizzly but also in a slow-burn mode andhardly getting a look in with all the drama elsewhere.

The international recognition of Alassane Ouattara as victor and sanctions slapped onhis rival, incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to step down, are still in place. But sois Gbagbo, and Ouattara remains holed up in a hotel, protected by a ring of UnitedNations peacekeepers. Threats, made by West Africas ECOWAS bloc, to oust him haverung hollow.


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Abyei, along with its oil reserves, remains a contested region between the north and thesoon-to-be-independent South Sudan.

Nathaniel Raymond, director of operations at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative for

the Satellite Sentinel Project, says, The latest imagery collected by DigitalGlobesatellitesshows three encampments inside the Abyei region, which corroboratereports of approximately 1500 northern police backed by the government of Sudanmoving into the Abyei region over the past few days.

Now, I want to be clear that we have seen activity at those positions before. What weare seeing is a severe spike in the amount of tents present at those positions consistentwith reports that troops have moved into Abyei, he says.

Any southern military response?

At this point, he says, we have collected and released imagery just specific to thenorth in this incident. But what we are doing now is basically tracking whether there isa corroborative and corresponding response from southern-aligned forces, he says.

A report released two weeks ago by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative said southernforces were moving into Todach and Tajalei, which were burned in the past month,allegedly by Missiriya militia. Another village, Maker Abior, was also burned.

Were going to continue to monitor those points and look for any potential or

corresponding buildup, he says.

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement bans military forces from Abyei. Now, thesatellite images show a jockeying of forces into opposing positions.

Its a very dangerous situation, he says. We now have a potentially deadly game ofchess occurring, where forcesnot supposed to be in this contested region are movingin facing one another and following each others move.

Growing tensions before independence

The movement of military forces in and around Abyei comes as the south is preparingto officially declare its independence from the north in July. Southern voters approvedsuccession in a January referendum.

Since the succession referendum, says Raymond, weve seen a series of skirmishes inthe contested region in Abyei, which was an issue not resolved by the referendum. But


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Khartoum has repeatedly rejected all such accusations, and dismissed the documents asfabricated.

Several hundred people, many of them civilians, have been killed since January'sreferendum in fighting between the SPLA and rebel militias in Jonglei state and the oil-

rich Upper Nile and Unity states, which both border the north.------------------------------------UN News Service Africa BriefsFull Articles on UN Website

UN allocates funds for humanitarian emergency in Cote dIvoire

23 March The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) todayallocated $10.4 million to seven agencies working in Cote dIvoire to help meet theurgent humanitarian needs of people affected by the post-election violence that hasdisplaced hundreds of thousands of people.

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AFRICOM Related News Clips 24 March 2011