Tough decisions face Harper, other leaders over military action in Libya

PARIS – With Libya’s ceasefire in tatters, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and fellow world leaders gathering in Paris Saturday faced tough decisions over military strikes to enforce a no-fly zone against the regime of Moammar Gadhafi.

France’s ambassador to the United Nations predicted military action within hours of the emergency summit, which was hastily convened by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Harper arrived in Paris early Saturday morning after an overnight transatlantic flight from Ottawa, accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon and Gen. Walt Natynczyk, the chief of the defence staff, for the one-day meeting.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, leaders from the Arab world, Africa and other Western powers were gathering to discuss possible military action against Gadhafi’s forces.

Gadhafi announced a ceasefire Friday and invited international monitors to provide verification. But his forces moved Saturday to crush the five-week-old rebellion against him, firing rockets and launching air strikes on the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

Rebel forces shot down a warplane that was seen bombing the city Saturday morning. An Associated Press reporter saw the plane go down in flames.
Gadhafi later issued a statement declaring the UN resolution authorizing international military intervention in Libya was “invalid.” The statement came from the government spokesman at a news conference in Tripoli.

Gadhafi said he has sent a message to U.S. President Barack Obama defending his decision to attack rebel cities

“If you found them taking over American cities by the force of arms, tell me what you would do,” he said in his message.

Gadhafi also sent a letter to the French and British leaders, and the UN secretary general, saying the resolution violates the UN charter and that they would “regret” any intervention.

“Libya is not for you, Libya is for the Libyans,” he said.

Harper has committed six Canadian CF-18 fighter jets to help enforce a no-fly zone over Libya.

They will be part of an international effort to back the United Nations Security Council resolution that is trying to prevent violence by forces loyal to Gadhafi against rebels and civilians.

Libya denied violating the ceasefire, blaming the rebels for doing so. Saturday’s developments raised the possibility of swift action to implement the no-fly zone.

Harper had separate bilateral meetings planned with Sarkozy and Cameron.

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