Britain is to violate UN mandate on Libya

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/173008.html

The UK military will dispatch 600 marines from its Royal Navy taskforce and at least 6 ships to Libya this week in defiance of the UN mandate.

Britain joined a Western-led military alliance, which was allowed by the UN Security Council to impose a no-fly zone over the Libyan territory to protect its civilian population.

The NATO-led alliance has been attacking targets in Libya for two weeks, under the UN resolution, which authorized military strikes to protect civilians.

But, now the UK military is sending 600 marines to Gibraltar later this week with the mission to protect ports where future medical and food supplies will be unloaded to areas held by revolutionary forces fighting Qaddafi troops, the London-based Times reported.

The ships in the taskforce, which are due to leave in the next two days, will include the landing platform Albion, the type-42 destroyer Liverpool and four support ships, the report said.

Britain is also under pressure to double the number of Royal Air Force planes available to attack the Libyan army after the withdrawal of US combat aircraft.

NATO is currently operating in the Libyan conflict under a United Nations' (UN) mandate that allowed the Western military alliance to establish a no-fly zone to save lives.

But, critics say NATO's warplanes have already exceeded this humanitarian directive by continuing to fly missions directly hitting targets inside the North African country, resulting in the death of dozens of civilians.

However, British politicians fully deny a possible troop deployment to Libya, with Prime Minister David Cameron saying “there is not going to be a land invasion.”

Cameron also told MPs at the Commons that the UN mandate did not allow for any foreign ground forces.

While Cameron insisted that Britain would adhere to the terms of the mandate, he and other NATO leaders, almost from the start of the conflict, have said Qaddafi has to go.