France and Britain have announced intentions to intensify the NATO-led military campaign in Libya as a way of forcing a resolution to the conflict, writes David Tresilian in Paris In moves being described as a significant escalation of the NATO-led intervention in the Libyan conflict, Britain and France deployed attack helicopters in the country this week as part of efforts to enforce UN Security Council Resolution 1973, which authorises the setting up of a no-fly zone over the country and the protection of civilians and civilian-populated areas. The decision to deploy the attack helicopters, reported in the British and French press on Tuesday, comes in the wake of increasing frustration that NATO-led air attacks on installations and forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have not managed to break the stalemate in the conflict, with rebels in the east of the country apparently being no closer to success in efforts to bring down the regime. The British and French attack helicopters, able to attack small targets in built-up areas, are reportedly being deployed to counter tactics used by pro-Gaddafi forces to avoid high-altitude NATO bombing by retreating to areas near civilian buildings, shedding their uniforms and dispersing amid the general population as they do so. The helicopters bring the NATO-led operations closer to ground level even as British and French officials have continued to stress that they do not intend to deploy ground forces in Libya in support of the rebels, something ruled out by UN Security Council Resolution 1973, which continues to provide the legal cover for the NATO-led operations. According to comments made on Monday by French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé, the use of attack helicopters in Libya, together with the reinforcement of the naval presence off the Libyan coast, will give NATO-led forces "more precise attack capabilities," allowing them better to adapt to needs on the ground. According to reports appearing in the French newspaper Le Monde on Tuesday, the intention among British and French defense forces is to "escalate" the NATO-led coalition's actions in Libya, with an anonymous French official saying that "the aim now is to reach breaking point in order that diplomacy can take over and finally get results." British foreign minister William Hague told reporters at a meeting in Brussels on Monday that "we are very much behind the intensification of the military campaign. We certainly agree with France that it is necessary to intensify the military, economic and diplomatic pressure on the Gaddafi regime." News of the deployment of British and French attack helicopters came against the backdrop of what was being described as the heaviest attack yet by NATO-led forces on the Libyan capital Tripoli since the bombing campaign began two months ago. Air strikes by NATO aircraft struck at least 15 targets over a half-hour period in central Tripoli early on Tuesday morning, many of them in an area around Gaddafi's headquarters in the city, with thunderous explosions being heard miles away and fireballs leaping high into the sky. Three people were killed and 150 wounded in the strikes, according to a Libyan government spokesman. According to the latest communiqué available at the beginning of the week from NATO, some 7,870 sorties have been flown in Libya by NATO-led forces since the organisation took over operations at the end of March, 3,025 of them strike sorties. News of the escalation of the NATO-led military campaign in Libya came in the wake of frustration among British and French defense chiefs that more was not being done to find a way out from what has become a drawn-out and costly conflict, the aims of which have increasingly been questioned. While the International Contact Group on Libya, established following the London conference on the country at the end of March, set up a fund to assist the rebel-led Libyan Transitional National Council in the eastern city of Benghazi at a meeting in Rome on 5 May, only France, Qatar, Maldives, Italy, Kuwait and the Gambia have thus far recognised the council as Libya's interim government. However, the council's position as a possible alternative Libyan government should the Gaddafi regime in Tripoli finally fall received a fillip at the weekend when Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief, visited Benghazi for talks with rebel leaders. Opening a EU liaison office in Benghazi, Ashton said that the EU would be looking into cooperation agreements with the council on border management, security reform, the economy, health, education and civil-society building, though it would not be providing weapons. The EU office was a sign of the EU's "unfaltering support for the Libyan people," Ashton said, commenting that "I have seen the vision of the Libyan people today. I saw the posters as I came from the airport with the words, 'we have a dream.'" US assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs Jeffrey Feltman also visited Benghazi on Tuesday, saying that the Obama administration had invited the council to open an office in Washington but not offering formal recognition or new funding for the movement. While UN Security Council Resolution 1973 does not authorise regime change as an aim of the NATO-led operations in Libya, Britain, France and the United States have consistently called for Gaddafi to step down before negotiations in the conflict can take place. A letter signed by British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy that appeared on 15 April said that while "our duty and mandate under UN Security Council Resolution 1973 is to protect civilians, and... is not to remove Gaddafi by force," it was "unthinkable that someone who has tried to massacre his own people can play a part in their future government." Since then, Libyan government spokesmen have claimed that NATO-led forces may be trying to assassinate Gaddafi, not least during a bombing raid on Tripoli at the beginning of May when Saif Al-Arab Gaddafi, son of the Libyan leader, and three of the latter's grandchildren died. Gaddafi's personal position also became more uncertain earlier this month with the news that the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor, acting on instructions from the UN Security Council, had requested a warrant for his arrest on charges of crimes against humanity carried out during the Libyan conflict. Arrest warrants were also requested against Gaddafi's son Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi and the head of the Libyan intelligence agency Abdullah Al-Sanousi. According to a statement from the ICC prosecutor's office on 16 May, "the evidence shows that Muammar Gaddafi personally ordered attacks on unarmed Libyan civilians," with Saif al-Islam being held responsible for recruiting mercenaries used to attack civilians and al-Sanousi of planning attacks against demonstrators. If issued, the warrants are unlikely to have any immediate effect on the Libyan conflict, since Libya does not recognise the ICC and the Court does not have enforcement powers, instead relying on the cooperation of member states. However, they would be considered a significant step towards further isolating Gaddafi and the Libyan regime internationally, adding to the military and economic pressure on the regime.
