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(TALKZIMBABWE) NATO exceeding mandate in Libya: Zuma

NATO exceeding mandate in Libya: Zuma
Posted by By Our reporter at 14 June, at 14 : 01 PM

NATO is abusing a United Nations resolution to protect Libyan civilians from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s forces in order to pursue regime change and political assassinations, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa said on Tuesday.

Zuma, who has visited Libya twice since March on behalf of the African Union (AU) to seek a solution to the civil war, said Nato had overstepped the UN resolution 1973, passed in March and authorising the use of military force to protect civilians.

“We have spoken out against the misuse of the good intentions in Resolution 1973,” he said in Parliament.

“We strongly believe that the resolution is being abused for regime change, political assassinations and foreign military occupation.”

Nato defence chiefs were due to meet in Belgrade on Tuesday to discuss the mission after US Defence Secretary Robert Gates accused some European allies of failing to pull their weight in a mission he feared could run out of steam.

Zuma said events in Libya had emphasised the need for an African Peace and Security Architecture – a planned crisis-resolution body that includes a stand-by military force.

Zuma said he hoped a briefing by an AU committee on Libya to the UN Security Council on Wednesday would lead to common ground being found towards a lasting solution to the crisis.

Zuma’s latest statement puts him in a diplomatic quandary as South Africa voted for a ‘no-fly zone’ to be imposed on Libya at the UN Security Council.

Ironically, he is now leading an AU delegation. The AU voted against the ‘no fly zone’.

- Reuters/TZG

Labels: AU, JACOB ZUMA, LIBYA, NATO, NEOCOLONIALISM

posted by MrK @ 6:18 PM