Gaddafi warns of ending cooperation with EU
March 11th, 2011 - 11:09 pm ICT by IANS
Cairo, March 11 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi Friday threatened to break off cooperation with the European Union on combating terrorism and illegal migration.
Gaddfi, in an address to an emergency EU summit in Brussels and carried by Libyan state media, warned that the country would drop its obligations to the EU and pull out of international agreements unless the EU recognised Tripoli’s efforts to tackle terrorism and illegal migration in North Africa.
He urged the EU to join forces in the fight against al Qaeda’s presence in Libya.
European leaders are meeting in Brussels to try to reach an agreement over measures to weaken Gaddafi’s forces, which have been violently suppressing rebels in Libya since mid-February.
Reports Friday suggested that Gaddafi’s forces had reclaimed the rebel stronghold of Zawiya, west of Tripoli. Rebels are also reported to have fled from the oil terminal of Ras Lanuf.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron are building support for a UN resolution to impose a no-fly zone over Libya.
Sarkozy claimed France and Britain were ready to launch “targeted air strikes” on Gaddafi’s key military command positions if his forces used chemical weapons or warplanes against civilians.
Russia Thursday joined the UN arms embargo on Libya but says it is opposed to western military intervention.
The UN Security Council has frozen the assets of 26 Libyans, including Gaddafi, his family and his close associates, and banned them from travelling to UN member states.
–IANS/RIA Novosti
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