Libya: The regime, the rebellion, France and USA

By African Bulletin on July 7, 2011

Recent alerts about the traffic, in the Sahelian zone, of portable missiles from the Libyan arsenals are taken very seriously.

Russian-made, they are essentially ground to air missiles able of shooting down an airliner during landing or take-off. And no matter on which side we  are, pro-rebels or pro- Kadhafi, the spread of these weapons has been proven and may eventually promote the rise of AQIM.  because of  this threat  and to prevent AQIM from  taking more  advantage of the  political instability in Libya, but also  because of resources and or  strategy lacks  elsewhere, an ultimate decision must be taken as a reaction . These new events have forced the NATO coalition to bless the rebel offensive launched in the mountains southwest of Tripoli, in an effort to move their front lines closer to the capital. Gaddafi’s troops were forced to retreat under heavy fire of artillery, guns, and mortars. Several mercenaries were captured and some said they came from Ghana and Mali. The rebellion is concentrating its forces to position themselves within artillery range of the capital. Their goal is to take the strategic crossroads of Bir Al-Ghanam. It is precisely to this purpose that France had carried out arms and ammunition airdrops, according the French daily “Le Figaro”.  Paris has declared that the arms supply has now ended, and the French Defence Minister, Gerard Longuet, was quoted as saying: “We are not in a stable and centralized theater of actions, in all its implications, obedient to a single authority “. From its part, the U.S. Senate postponed voting on a resolution that authorizes U.S. military involvement in Libya for up to a year, but prevents the use of American ground troops in the conflict. Some U.S senior politicians think it is important not to abandon the U.S. mission, arguing that Kadhafi is close to losing his grip on power. At this end, it is legitimate to wonder who is really behind the dissemination of the sophisticated armament within the Sahel. Is it really the new rebellion? Or some sophisticated and well trained channels within state terrorism and deep geostrategic objectives for deception purposes…