http://arabnews.com/world/article330753.ece
Russia's NATO envoy warns of full-scale war in Libya Russian Communists holding portraits of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi protest against the international air strikes on the North African nation at the US Consulate in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday. (AP) By REUTERS Published: Mar 26, 2011 20:32 Updated: Mar 26, 2011 20:45 MOSCOW: NATO could be dragged into a full-scale war in Libya, like those being waged in Iraq and Afghanistan, Russia's ambassador to the military alliance was quoted as saying on Saturday. NATO has control of an arms embargo on Libya and agreed this week to assume command of a no-fly zone over its territory but Washington has been left in control of conducting air strikes against Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's ground forces. The United States hopes to hand over control of the air strikes as soon as possible and said on Friday it expected NATO to take command of it, although it was still being discussed. "Just as we forecast, NATO is being drawn deeper and deeper into war in North Africa," Russia's envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, told Interfax news agency. "The statements we are hearing today from NATO members and the alliance on the whole could draw this bloc into a full-scale operation on Libyan territory, which means essentially the US and its closest allies could be drawn into a third war in addition to those in Iraq and Afghanistan." Russia backed UN sanctions against Qaddafi and his government earlier this month but abstained in a Security Council vote that authorized a no-fly zone, allowing armed intervention by a Western coalition. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has expressed concern over the possibility of civilian deaths and told US President Barack Obama in a telephone conversation earlier this week that such casualties had to be prevented. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Russia's paramount leader, has taken a harder stance, comparing the UN resolution to "medieval calls for crusades." [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
