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IPFS News Link • WAR: About that War

UPDATE 2-Rebels will accept foreign forces to protect Libyans

• www.reuters.com

BENGHAZI, Libya, April 20 (Reuters) - Libyan rebels would not object to the presence of foreign ground forces to protect a safe haven for civilians, a senior rebel spokesman said on Wednesday.

Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, spokesman for the rebel National Council, also said that NATO had been doing more to protect civilians through its campaign of airstrikes.

"Protecting civilians requires having safe passages to deliver humanitarian supplies," Ghoga told a news conference in the opposition stronghold of Benghazi, where the revolt against Muammar Gaddafi began on Feb. 17.

"If that (protecting civilians) does not come except through ground forces that will ensure this safe haven, then there is no harm in that at all," he said, adding that the National Council did not believe such a move amounted to military intervention. The European Union has outlined a provisional plan that could see European troops sent to the besieged western city of Misrata to protect aid deliveries if requested by the United Nations, EU officials said on Monday.

 

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