UNITED NATIONS, (Reuters) – Supporters of a no-fly zone to halt Libyan government air strikes on rebels circulated a draft resolution at the U.N. Security Council yesterday that would authorize one, but other states said questions remained.
The draft was distributed at a closed-door meeting by Britain and Lebanon after the Arab League called on the council on Saturday to set up a no-fly zone amid advances by leader Muammar Gaddafi’s troops against the rebels based in the east.
The draft, obtained by Reuters, says the council “decides to establish a ban on all flights in the airspace of (Libya) in order to help protect civilians.”
It authorizes member states to “take all necessary measures to enforce compliance” and says countries implementing the ban would be doing so in cooperation with the Arab League and in cooperation with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
It could also open the door to military action beyond a no-fly zone. The draft explicitly “authorizes members of the League of Arab States and other states which have notified the Secretary-General … to take all necessary measures to protect civilians and civilian objects in (Libya).”
After receiving the draft, members of the 15-nation council adjourned without taking action and were due to reconvene on Wednesday to engage in what British U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said would be “paragraph-by-paragraph” discussion.
A spokesman for British Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters in London the negotiations would not be easy.
“There are a very broad range of views in the council,” he said. “We are going into this with our eyes open. We are under no illusions. This will be a difficult negotiation.”
The draft also provides for the expanding of sanctions already slapped by the U.N. council on Libyan leaders on Feb. 26 — including asset freezes, travel bans and an arms embargo — to cover all assets abroad of the Gaddafi government.
