There is "no question" of international forces invading Libya, despite the apparent stalemate on the ground between Moamer Gaddafi's forces and rebel fighters, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Sunday.
The United Nations Security Council resolution on Libya allows "all necessary measures" to protect civilians, but specifically rules out the presence of an occupying army on the ground, dpa reported.
With Gaddafi's forces attacking the key city of Misurata, despite a patrolled no-fly zone, there have been some demands for greater help from the NATO-led military effort.
But speaking on Sunday to Sky News television, Cameron said: "It is because we have said we are not going to invade, we are not going to occupy (that) this is more difficult in many ways because we can't fully determine the outcome with what we have available."
"We are very clear that we must stick to the terms of the UN Security Council resolution, we must keep the support of the Arab world."
Pushed as to whether any British forces could be involved on the ground, he said: "What we've said is there is no question of an invasion or an occupation, this is not about Britain putting boots on the ground, this is not what we are about here."
Britain, along with France and the United States, was one of the key nations pushing for the UN resolution, when it appeared Gaddafi was poised to take the city of Benghazi from rebel insurgents.
Cameron also defended his decision to compose a joint statement with the US and French presidents Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy saying the mission would not end until Gaddafi was gone.
That sparked demands from some lawmakers in Britain for a recall of parliament to discuss what critics said was a shift beyond the UN protection remit to regime change.
"The resolutions are about protecting civilians and enforcing a no fly zone and that is what we are doing but separately and politically, I think almost every political leader in the world bar about three have said that the future for Libya must be a future without Gaddafi," he said.
No invasion of Libya, Britain's Cameron promises
There is "no question" of international forces invading Libya, despite the apparent stalemate on the ground between Moamer Gaddafi's forces and rebel fighters, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Sunday.