Monday, 20 June 2011
Libyan firefighters and local residents remove debris from a damaged residential building in Tripoli. (File Photo)
Senior Libyan rebel leader Mahmud Jibril will pay a two-day visit to China this week, the Chinese foreign ministry said Monday, as Beijing continues to make efforts to resolve the crisis there.
Mr. Jibril, a leading member of Libya’s opposition National Transitional Council (NTC), will begin his visit on Tuesday, the ministry said in a statement.
Earlier this month, China said it would welcome visits by Libyan rebels seeking to wrest power from strongman Muammar Qaddafi in a civil war.
Chinese diplomats have so far held two confirmed meetings with members of the NTC, the leadership body established by opposition forces in the eastern rebel-held Libyan city of Benghazi.
Mr. Jibril, a leading member of Libya’s opposition National Transitional Council (NTC), will begin his visit on Tuesday, the ministry said in a statement.
Earlier this month, China said it would welcome visits by Libyan rebels seeking to wrest power from strongman Muammar Qaddafi in a civil war.
Chinese diplomats have so far held two confirmed meetings with members of the NTC, the leadership body established by opposition forces in the eastern rebel-held Libyan city of Benghazi.
China’s recent diplomatic activity has indicated that Beijing -- which has significant economic interests in Libya -- is hoping for an early resolution of the war there.
China’s commercial interests in Libya include oil, telecoms and rail projects. It was forced to evacuate more than 35,000 workers from the North African state when unrest broke out in mid-February.
Meanwhile, NATO has admitted it destroyed a house in Tripoli in which Libyan officials said nine civilians were killed, an incident likely to sow new doubts inside the alliance about its mission in Libya.
Three children were among 15 people killed in a new NATO air strike on Monday, government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told reporters during a tour of damaged buildings in Sorman, west of Tripoli.
The air strike killing civilians comes contrary to NATO’s promise that the use of attack helicopters -- dubbed for its precision-- is to alleviate any civilian deaths.
The air strike was the clearest case yet of NATO bombing causing multiple civilian casualties, and also comes at a time when NATO is already under strain from a campaign that is taking more time and resources than it expected.
A NATO statement said a military missile site was the intended target of the air strikes but that it appeared one of the weapons did not strike that target.
“NATO regrets the loss of innocent civilian lives and takes great care in conducting strikes against a regime determined to use violence against its own citizens,” said Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, commander of NATO’s operations over Libya.
“Although we are still determining the specifics of this event, indications are that a weapons system failure may have caused this incident,” Mr. Bouchard said.
Reporters taken to the residential area in Tripoli’s Souq al-Juma district by Libyan officials early on Sunday saw several bodies being pulled out of the rubble of a destroyed building.
Later, in a hospital, they were shown the bodies of two children and three adults who, officials said, were among those killed in the strike.
Libyan Foreign Minister Abdelati Obeidi said the NATO strike was a “pathetic attempt .... to break the spirit of the people of Tripoli and allow small numbers of terrorists to cause instability and disorder in the peaceful city.”
“We will never forgive, we will never forget, we are here; on our land, united with our leader, ready for peace and ready for the fight for our freedom and honor,” he told a news conference.
But a spokesman for the rebels fighting to end Mr. Qaddafi’s 41-year rule said the Libyan leader was to blame.
“We are sorry for the loss of civilian life that was caused by air strikes carried out by NATO,” said Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice chairman of the rebel National Transitional Council.
“We hold the Qaddafi regime responsible for having placed its military (installations) near civilian areas,” he said. “So these losses are to be expected.”
(Dina Al-Shibeeb, a senior editor at Al Arabiya English, can be reached at: dina.ibrahim@mbc.net)
China’s commercial interests in Libya include oil, telecoms and rail projects. It was forced to evacuate more than 35,000 workers from the North African state when unrest broke out in mid-February.
Meanwhile, NATO has admitted it destroyed a house in Tripoli in which Libyan officials said nine civilians were killed, an incident likely to sow new doubts inside the alliance about its mission in Libya.
Three children were among 15 people killed in a new NATO air strike on Monday, government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told reporters during a tour of damaged buildings in Sorman, west of Tripoli.
The air strike killing civilians comes contrary to NATO’s promise that the use of attack helicopters -- dubbed for its precision-- is to alleviate any civilian deaths.
The air strike was the clearest case yet of NATO bombing causing multiple civilian casualties, and also comes at a time when NATO is already under strain from a campaign that is taking more time and resources than it expected.
A NATO statement said a military missile site was the intended target of the air strikes but that it appeared one of the weapons did not strike that target.
“NATO regrets the loss of innocent civilian lives and takes great care in conducting strikes against a regime determined to use violence against its own citizens,” said Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, commander of NATO’s operations over Libya.
“Although we are still determining the specifics of this event, indications are that a weapons system failure may have caused this incident,” Mr. Bouchard said.
Reporters taken to the residential area in Tripoli’s Souq al-Juma district by Libyan officials early on Sunday saw several bodies being pulled out of the rubble of a destroyed building.
Later, in a hospital, they were shown the bodies of two children and three adults who, officials said, were among those killed in the strike.
Libyan Foreign Minister Abdelati Obeidi said the NATO strike was a “pathetic attempt .... to break the spirit of the people of Tripoli and allow small numbers of terrorists to cause instability and disorder in the peaceful city.”
“We will never forgive, we will never forget, we are here; on our land, united with our leader, ready for peace and ready for the fight for our freedom and honor,” he told a news conference.
But a spokesman for the rebels fighting to end Mr. Qaddafi’s 41-year rule said the Libyan leader was to blame.
“We are sorry for the loss of civilian life that was caused by air strikes carried out by NATO,” said Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice chairman of the rebel National Transitional Council.
“We hold the Qaddafi regime responsible for having placed its military (installations) near civilian areas,” he said. “So these losses are to be expected.”
(Dina Al-Shibeeb, a senior editor at Al Arabiya English, can be reached at: dina.ibrahim@mbc.net)
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