Libya: 'Gaddafi will win in the end' says US intelligence chief embarrassing Obama
- 'Hold your horses': Baroness Ashton tells PM
- White House forced into humiliating denial over U.S. intelligence claim that 'Gaddafi will win in the end'
- PM writes letter calling for dictator to step down
- Unicef accuses Gaddafi of using child soldiers
- Opposition troops cling on to outskirts of oil port
- Regime threatens to cleanse rebel 'rats' from country
David Cameron’s plans for tougher action against Libya were sabotaged by Britain’s own Brussels commissioner.
Labour peer and EU foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton joined forces with the Germans to shoot down the prospect of a no-fly zone or targeted air strikes.
One of her aides was heard describing the calls for action as ‘headline-grabbing desperation’.
'Headline-grabbing desperation': Labour peer and EU foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton (right) joined forces with the Germans to shoot down David Cameron's call for a no-fly zone or targeted air strikes in Libya
The Prime Minister had warned that Europe must ‘do more’ to stop the dictator’s ‘rampage’ against his own people.
On the eve of yesterday’s summit, he and French president Mr Sarkozy issued a joint letter calling for Europe to back ‘a no-fly zone or other options against air attacks’, code for the bombing of Gaddafi’s airfields.
Mr Cameron then spent six fruitless hours yesterday trying to persuade his fellow leaders to back him up.
But the final communiqué signed by the 27 member states made no mention of a no-fly zone.
Instead they merely agreed to ‘consider all necessary activities’ at some undefined point in the future – and only then if it has the full backing of the United Nations and the Arab League.
Desperate defence: Shrapnel flies through the air as a tank shell explodes near Libyan rebel fighters defending their last position in Ras Lanuf
In an astonishing intervention against her own government, Lady Ashton, a Labour peer, told Mr Cameron: ‘Hold your horses.’
It was her spokesman Darren Ennis who was overheard making the ‘headline-grabbing’ comment, and suggested Britain and France would have to go it alone and form a ‘coalition of the willing’.
Later one EU diplomat said: ‘The risks are high for potential civilian casualties and potential collateral damage.
‘The efficiency of a no-fly zone is very questionable. Apart from anything else, European command and control facilities would not be able to get a no-fly zone up and running in less than five or six weeks.’
Baroness Ashton’s officials also pointed out that there were still up to 2,000 EU nationals in Libya, only 150 of whom want to get out.
As the dictator’s loyalists continued to regain ground from rebel forces yesterday, a visibly furious Mr Cameron said: ‘Gaddafi is still on the rampage, waging war on his own people and at the moment there is no sign of this ending.
'Do we need to do more? Of course we do, because this man is brutalising his own people and we cannot stand aside while that happens.’
The EU unanimously agreed that Gaddafi should quit now, and agreed to Mr Cameron’s calls for reform of the way it spends its money in the Middle East to promote democracy – but his calls for action on military preparations fell on deaf ears.
German chancellor Angela Merkel said she was ‘fundamentally sceptical’ about military intervention.
Her foreign minister Guido Westerwelle said: ‘We do not want to get sucked into a war in North Africa.’
Mr Sarkozy expressed frustration at the EU’s inaction. France is the first country to officially recognise the Libyan opposition as the country’s government. Libya later announced the suspension of its diplomatic relations with Paris.
The state-run Al-Shababiya TV channel said the Libyan government is offering an amnesty to rebels who lay down their weapons.
Seized: Rebel fighters ride on a tank in Ras Lanuf, later retaken by Gaddafi's forces
United against Gaddafi: David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the start of the Brussels summit. Lady Ashton's spokesman suggested Britain and France would have to go it alone and form a ‘coalition of the willing’
Arriving at an emergency summit in Brussels yesterday, the Prime Minister said: 'It's important that the countries of Europe show political will, ambition and unity in being clear that Colonel Gaddafi must go, that his regime is illegitimate, that what he is doing to his people is completely unacceptable.This is absolutely vital work.'
At the Brussels emergency summit on Libya and North Africa, Europe's foreign policy chief Cathy Ashton warned EU leaders against backing a no-fly zone over Libya, citing deep concern about the potential risks and loss of civilian life.
In a joint letter to the summit Mr Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy had urged the EU to deliver a declaration endorsing contingency planning to prevent the use of force against civilians by the Gaddafi regime, including 'a no-fly zone or other options against air attacks'.
But Baroness Ashton, who visited Tripoli earlier this week and was at Nato talks on no-fly zones yesterday, was said now to be concerned about such a move.
Retreat from Ras Lanuf: Rebel fighters scramble to escape as Gaddafi's forces launch a barrage of shells and rockets on the strategic oil port
'The risks are high for potential civilian casualties and potential collateral damage,' said one EU diplomat. 'The efficiency of a no-fly zone is very questionable.
'Apart from anything else, European command and control facilities would not be able to get a no-fly zone up and running in less than five or six weeks, and Nato is suggesting it would take at least three to four weeks.'
'The question is whether, in political terms, a no-fly zone can achieve what you want it to achieve.'
Counter-offensive: Rebel fighters have been defeated in Zawiya and are clinging on in Ras Lanuf
British ministers have said for days that a 'demonstrable need' would have to be established for a no-fly zone, which would also need a 'clear legal basis' and the backing of countries in the region - effectively through the Arab League.
But the diplomat said latest assessments accepted by Baroness Ashton suggest that Algeria and Syria would be unwilling to give their support.
Another factor is the EU nationals remaining in Libya - between 1,500 and 2,000, of whom only 150 want to leave the country.
At the summit, a British official said no-fly zones remained on the agenda, adding: 'We think all governments, all countries should be thinking about what might lie around the corner.'
Threat: Gaddafi's son Saif vows to a rally of young supporters that the regime will retake the eastern half of the country
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