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NATO pledges to stop arms shipments to Libya

Arab World Materials 31 March 2011 18:08 (UTC +04:00)
NATO pledged on Thursday to stop any arms shipments to Libya, but indicated that it might change its mind if some of its members decided to start supplying weapons to the rebels fighting Moamer Gaddafi's forces.
NATO pledges to stop arms shipments to Libya

NATO pledged on Thursday to stop any arms shipments to Libya, but indicated that it might change its mind if some of its members decided to start supplying weapons to the rebels fighting Moamer Gaddafi's forces, reported dpa.

"If today there is a ship transporting arms or mercenaries, it will be stopped," the chairman of NATO's military committee, Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola told a news conference in Brussels.

As part of its efforts to enforce all United Nations-authorized military actions against Libya, NATO is enforcing a naval arm embargo in the Mediterranean.

The United States has suggested that the arms embargo foreseen by UN Security Council resolution 1973 could be overridden if the overall objective was to prevent civilian casualties, while Italy said such actions would not be allowed.

"There might be different interpretations, it is not that clear whether (arming the rebels) would be in breach or not in breach of the (UN) resolution," Di Paola said.

He said he was "confident, absolutely confident, that one of the (NATO) allies" were currently arming the rebels.

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