South African president blasts NATO actions in Libya (extract)

NATO refused to say whether it would bomb ancient Roman ruins

Published on 14 June 2011

Author(s): CNN

Type:  News

Rebel claims that Libya's leader may be hiding rocket launchers at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Leptis Magna, a Roman city between the capital of Tripoli and rebel-held Misrata

Extract from the CNN News article South African president blasts NATO actions in Libya.

...Separately, NATO refused to say Tuesday whether it would bomb ancient Roman ruins in Libya if it knew Gadhafi was hiding military equipment there. "We will strike military vehicles, military forces, military equipment or military infrastructure that threaten Libyan civilians as necessary," a NATO official in Naples, Italy, said, declining to give his name in discussing internal NATO deliberations (Emphasis Culture in Development).

But he said the alliance could not verify rebel claims that Libya's leader may be hiding rocket launchers at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Leptis Magna, a Roman city between the capital of Tripoli and rebel-held Misrata. Wing Cmdr. Mike Bracken, a spokesman for NATO's Libya mission, later said it "would be a concern for us that Gadhafi and pro-Gadhafi forces would choose to contravene international law in hiding themselves in such a location."And, he said, "If we were to take on any targets, we would consider all risks." But he underscored that NATO could not confirm that weapons might be placed at the heritage site (Emphasis Culture in Development)....

To read the entire CNN News article South African president blasts NATO actions in Libya click here...

Back to previous page