Libya to abstain from hindering action against Syria

Libyan Prime Minister Abdurrahim El-Keib told Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin late Wednesday during a Security Council meeting on Libya to mind his own business regarding the NATO attacks on Libyan civilians last year and not to use the Libyan case to hinder Council action against the rulers who are killing their own people, in an indirect reference to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. El-Keib was responding to Churkin, and his Chinese colleague too, who raised once again during the Council meeting the issue of civilian casualties caused by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) air strikes, none of which Churkin said had been acknowledged by the organization, despite credible counter-claims. The Council had authorized Member States in resolution 1973 to use "all necessary measures" to protect the Libyan civilians who were being killed by the Gaddafi regime during the uprising that ended his four-decade old rule. Russia and China had vetoed two Council resolutions on Syria, claiming they did not want to see a repetition of the Libyan scenario. Churkin said he had expected NATO to acknowledge casualties and pay compensation to the victims, and expressed "deep concern over weapons proliferation from Libya and reports of armed fighters being sent to Syria to attack the legitimate Government there. With Al-Qaida in Syria, was that not support for terrorism?" Addressing Churkin and his Chinese colleague, El-Keib said "permit me to say that this matter which concerns the blood of Libyans should not be a matter of political propaganda by any country against other countries." He added that the Libyan government conducted an investigation into the deaths of each Libyan civilian and "received cooperation of NATO to some violations which may have taken place and led to killing of some civilians." He expressed hope that issue would not prevent the international community from intervening in situations where citizens were being massacred by their own rulers. "I hope the reason for raising this issue is not to impede the international community from interfering in situations of countries going through similar circumstances, while their people are being massacred and killed this minute at the hands of their rulers," he added in an indirect reference to Al-Assad. US Ambassador Susan Rice and her French and German colleagues also expressed regret in the Council that Churkin had to raise the NATO issue again. "The International Commission of Inquiry had concluded that NATO had conducted a highly circumspect campaign in order to avoid civilian casualties. Indeed, it had made every effort to avoid civilian casualties entirely. The Commission's report said that NATO had adhered to a standard exceeding what was required under international humanitarian law, and was in line with the mandate given to it by the Council," she said. She added that the Commission had found no violations on the part of NATO. Moreover, NATO had worked with the Commission and had looked into every allegation that had been brought to it. Such investigations had proved that great care had been taken to minimize risk of injury to civilians. Indeed, hundreds of targets were passed up and countless missions were aborted to avoid putting civilians at risk. Council President Sir Mark Lyall Grant of the UK later told reporters that the issue of NATO was raised during the closed-door part of the Council meeting, "but the majority of Member States were saying that they thought we should look forward now and not look back on the Libya dossier." As post-revolution Libya began to undo its authoritarian past and piece together a democratic future, Ian Martin, the head of the six-month old United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), told the Council earlier in the day in an open meeting that Libya was unique, rich in resources and did not need "traditional" donor support, but 42 years of dictatorship and long periods of international isolation had left the country weak in the institutions of a modern democratic State. Following the popular uprisings, he said, the Libyan people now looked forward to free elections, a democratic constitution, transparency and accountability and the rule of law, including security forces subject to civilian control and protecting the people rather than protecting a regime. "The role of the United Nations must be to support their efforts, where and when needed, in a flexible manner, which does not impose a heavy international presence," he said. El-keib told the Council that the UN "unwavering support" to the Libyan people was "critical" to efforts to address the numerous challenges in building a modern democratic state, and reiterated his Government's commitments to comply with all its international obligations. He said that the contributions of migrant workers would also be needed in the building of the new Libya, but there was now a major flow of illegal migration with no proper framework existing in the country to deal with it. He vowed that all migrants and refugees will be treated humanely, according to international standards, but said his country would need international assistance in that effort. Regarding man-portable air defence systems and chemical, nuclear and other materiel, he affirmed that the Government was cooperating with relevant agencies with the support of UNSMIL. As critical border security required coordinated bilateral and regional efforts, he said he had invited Libya's adjacent neighbours plus Mali, Mauritania and Morocco to a high-level conference on border security in Tripoli on March 11-12.