Gaddafi planting bodies at sites of coalition air strike in Libya: Gates
March 27th, 2011 - 3:01 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Mar 27(ANI): U.S. intelligence reports suggest that Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi’s forces are planting dead bodies of civilians at sites attacked by coalition forces, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has said.
Gates said that the ploy was an attempt to place the blame for civilian casualties on the US-led coalition, which is enforcing the United Nations authorized no-fly zone in Libya.
“We do have a lot of intelligence reporting about Gaddafi taking the bodies of the people he’s killed and putting them at the sites where we’ve attacked,” CBS News quoted Gates, as saying.
Gates stressed that coalition forces have been “extremely careful in this military effort” and commended coalition air forces saying that they “have really done an extraordinary job”.
The coalition began air strikes against Gaddafi’s forces on March 19 to establish a no-fly zone over the country and to try to prevent the Libyan dictator from using his air force to attack people rebelling against his rule. (ANI)
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