Don’t arm Libyan rebels, say CDA and Labour MPs

Christian Democrat and Labour MPs have urged Nato not to intervene militarily in Libya, arguing that change must come from the Libyans themselves, not the international community, the Telegraaf reports.


The MPs were speaking during Thursday night’s debate on extending the Dutch role to monitoring the UN-declared no-fly zone.
CDA MP Henk Jan Ormel warned that military intervention could also give rise to expectations in Sudan or Ivory Coast.
And Labour’s Frans Timmermans said Nato must keep strictly to the terms of the UN resolution. Arming the rebels in Libya would be ‘beyond the boundaries of what the UN agreed,’ he said. If that happened, the PvdA would no longer support the mission, he said.
Arms
There is pressure in the US for the international community to supply arms to opponents of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The left-wing green party GroenLinks on Thursday withdrew its support for the Dutch mission in Libya, saying there are too many uncertainties and divisions about the aim of the Nato action.
Meanwhile, the GPD news agency says a Dutch man who worked as a diver for an oil company in the region has been killed. It is not clear how the man died but according to the GDP, the compound he and two other Dutch nationals had been taken to was attacked by Gaddafi’s forces.

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