Russia: NATO gone too far in Libya

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addresses a press conference on the second and last day of a NATO Foreign Ministers Meet in Berlin on April 15, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/174947.html

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says NATO's military intervention in oil-rich Libya has gone far beyond the mandate authorized by the United Nations.

After talks with NATO counterparts in Berlin on Friday, Lavrov also called for an urgent shift towards a political and diplomatic settlement in Libya, AFP reported.

The remarks come as at least eight revolutionaries have been killed in fresh shelling of the western city of Misratah by forces loyal to the Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

Heavy fighting continued around Misratah on Friday as Gaddafi loyalists fired dozens of rockets at the coastal city.

On Thursday, NATO member states rejected a call by France and Britain to step up attacks on Libya, widening the rift in the Western military alliance over the strategy in the North African country.

Thousands of civilians have been killed since Western warplanes began their air assaults on Libya last month under a UN no-fly zone mandate.

Libyan anti-government forces, inspired by revolutions that toppled authoritarian rulers in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt, are fighting to topple Gaddafi, who has ruled the country for over 41 years.