British defence secretary admits Gaddafi is a ‘legitimate target’
March 21st, 2011 - 5:44 pm ICT by ANILondon, Mar.21 (ANI): British Defence Secretary Liam Fox has admitted that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is a legitimate assassination target. He said he would sanction a ‘bunker buster’ attack on the dictator’s lair, as long as civilian casualties could be avoided.
Fox also vowed to destroy Gaddafi’s entire military infrastructure.
In the second night of bombing by the Allied forces, a three-storey administration building in Gaddafi’s residential compound was struck at a time when around 300 of his supporters were in the area.
As Britain launched cruise missile strikes last night and RAF jets completed further raids, which were part of a multinational operation, fears grew of ‘mission creep’ as a no-fly zone over Libya was enforced by the United Nations.
Three Cabinet ministers last night refused to rule out the eventual deployment of British ground troops, saying only that there are no plans to do so ‘at the moment’.
Britain had also launched Tomahawk cruise missiles from HMS Triumph, a submerged Royal Navy submarine in the Mediterranean, which were aimed at targets around Tripoli and Misratah.
At least 110 missiles were fired in total by the US and UK, which hit 20 of 22 targets causing significant damage. The missile launch was followed by a pre-dawn raid by RAF Tornados and US stealth bombers, The Daily Mail reports.
However, while the military operations appear flawless, concerns over the political game-plan have grown since in the last three days the government has not only secured a UN resolution backing a no-fly zone, through air strikes but officials have also started to aknowledge that Gaddafi could be a tarfet.
The UN resolution does not permit an invasion or explicitly sanction a regime change.
The current situation in Libya has sparked concerns that the government has not learnt from its past mistakes during the Iraq war.
Defence sources said that they will target Libyan military installations and that Gaddafi’s death could be a consequence of that.
However, Fox, British Foreign Secretary William Hague and Chancellor George Osborne have all refused to rule out the deployment of ground troops. (ANI)
- Gaddafi regime brands UN resolution on no-fly zone in Libya as 'invalid' - Mar 20, 2011
- 48 killed as coalition forces target Libyan air defence - Mar 20, 2011
- French warplanes strike Tripoli outskirts - Mar 20, 2011
- Russia calls for end to 'indiscriminate use of force' in Libya - Mar 20, 2011
- UK Tornado jets launch precision bomb raids on Libya - Mar 26, 2011
- UK PM Cameron says British forces in action over Libya, says it is legal - Mar 20, 2011
- Missiles hit Gaddafi compound in Tripoli - Mar 21, 2011
- US will not put ground forces in Libya, says Obama - Mar 26, 2011
- Qatar to join foreign air raids on Libya - Mar 21, 2011
- Gaddafi's "eyes and ears" air force no longer exists as a fighting force: RAF commander - Mar 24, 2011
- India, four others abstain from UN's Libya no-fly zone resolution - Mar 18, 2011
- 'Coalition forces paving rebels' way to Libyan oil facilities' - Mar 27, 2011
- It will be "unwise" for allied forces to try to kill Gaddafi: Gates - Mar 21, 2011
- West bombs Libya, Gaddafi vows 'long drawn war' (Roundup) - Mar 20, 2011
- Gaddafi needs to go: Obama - Mar 22, 2011
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