UN Security Council no-fly zone vote explained

by William M. Reilly

UNITED NATIONS, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council, recalling requests from the Arab League and the African Union, narrowly approved on Thursday a no-fly zone over Libya, with countries explaining their positions on the new UN resolution.

Lebanon, one of the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council, presented the draft resolution along with France and Britain. Ambassador Nawaf Salam of Lebanon, the Arab country on the 15-nation UN body, said after the vote that the Tripoli government had "lost all legitimacy."

"I underscore the fact that this resolution will not have as a consequence an occupation of even an inch of (Libyan) territory," he said, calling attention to paragraph 4, in the 10-page document, including annexes, that called for members of the United Nations "to take all necessary measures ...to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack ... while excluding an occupation force..."

That means "not even an inch" of occupied land in Libya, he said.

The resolution, which was passed 10-0 with five abstentions, authorized, under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, "all necessary measures to enforce compliance with the ban on flights." Chapter VII of the Charter authorizes the use of force.

China's UN Ambassador Li Baodong, also explained Beijing's abstention.

"The continuing worsening of the situation in Libya has the great concern of China," Li said. "We support the Security Council's adoption of appropriate and necessary action to stabilize as soon as possible the situation in Libya and to halt acts of violence against civilians," he said.

"In the Security Council's consultations on Resolution 1973, we and some other council members asked some specific questions. However, regrettably, many of those questions failed to be clarified or answered. China has serious difficulty with part of the resolution," he said.

"Meanwhile, China attaches great importance to the relevant decision by the 22-member Arab league on the establishment of a no-fly zone over Libya," he said. "We also attach great importance to the position of African countries and the African Union."

The Arab League endorsed the no-fly zone over Libya in its March 12 decision at the end of a meeting on the situation of the North African country.

"In view of this and considering the special circumstance surrounding the situation in Libya, China abstained during the vote on the resolution, Resolution 1973," Li said. "We support the secretary-general's special envoy for Libya and the African Union and the Arab League in their continuing efforts to address by peaceful means the current crisis in Libya."

Mark Lyall Grant, the British UN ambassador, told members of the council after the vote, "The situation in Libya is clear. A violent, discredited regime which has lost all legitimacy is using weapons of war against civilians."

"Gaddafi's regime has ignored this Council's demand, in resolution 1970, that it stop the violence against the Libyan people.

"It is now preparing for a violent assault on a city of 1 million people that has a history dating back to 2,500 years. It has begun air strikes in anticipation of what we expect to be a brutal attack using air, land and sea forces. Gaddafi has publicly promised no mercy and no pity," London's envoy added.

"The international community has come together in deploring the actions of the Gaddafi regime and demanding that the regime end this violence against the Libyan people," he said.

For his part, German UN Ambassador Peter Wittig voiced his fear that using military force could lead to "the likelihood of large-scale loss of life."

"We participated actively in the discussions on the draft resolution," said Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia. "Unfortunately, work on this document was not in keeping with the Security Council's standing practice.

"In essence, a whole range of questions raised by the Russian Federation and other Security Council members remained unanswered, questions which were both concrete and legitimate, questions regarding how the no fly zone would be enforced, what the rules of engagement would be, and limits to the use of force would be. Furthermore, the draft was morphing before our very eyes, transcending the League of Arab States' initial stated concepts," he added.

"Introduced into the text were provisions potentially opening the door to large-scale military intervention," Moscow's envoy said. "Through the negotiations of the draft, statements claiming an absence of any such intention were heard. We take note of these."