Appeals from the Arab League made the UN
Security Council to pass a resolution granting member states the
authority to use force to protect civilians in Libya.
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| f15 in flight |
The French fighter jets fired the first
shots of Operation Odyssey Dawn on Saturday destroying Colonel Muammar
al-Gaddafi’s tanks and armoured vehicles on the road to the west of
Benghazi.
The French attack was followed by a
barrage of US and British Tomahawk cruise missiles targeting the
regime’s air defenses and military hardware along Libya’s coast.
Following the air strikes, the Libyan
state television claimed that 48 people had been killed and 150 wounded
during the attack.
Apart from the Arab League, the US led
western forces have the backing of the Organisation of Islamic
Conference, and countries such as Spain, Belgium, Denmark and Qatar have
offered to take part in the military operations against Gaddafi’s
forces.
Gaddafi, in his address to the nation on Sunday vowed a ‘long war’ and told the Libyan people that his forces would win.
‘We will fight for every square inch in our land and we will die as martyrs,’ said Gaddafi.
He also said people were behind him and
ready for an all-out war, and repeated his claim that the arms depots
have been opened and weapons distributed among the ordinary people.
‘We will fight and we will target any
traitor who is co-operating with the Americans or with the Christian
Crusade,’ Gaddafi said.
……………………………………………Written by: Ibrahim Nazim
20 March 2011, Sunday
15 Raby` al-THaany 1432
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