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Cameron says British forces are in action over Libya

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David Cameron: military action is "necessary, legal and right"

Libya Revolt

British forces are in action over Libya as part of a coalition operation to enforce a UN no-fly zone, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.
A British submarine has fired a number of Tomahawk missiles at Libyan air defence targets.
Mr Cameron said the action was "legal, necessary and right".
France, US, Canada and Italy are also involved in the operation to protect civilians from attacks by Col Gaddafi's forces.
US officials said it was a "carefully coordinated" joint operation known as Odyssey Dawn.
French planes destroyed Libyan vehicles earlier on Saturday, and US media say the US has fired missiles at Libya from a warship.
'Just cause' Defence sources told the BBC Britain had launched a number of missiles from Trafalgar class submarines in the Mediterranean, aimed at Libyan air defence targets including radar and surface-to-air missile weapons.

“Start Quote

We have all seen the appalling brutality meted out by Col Gaddafi against his own people”
End Quote David Cameron Prime Minister
Libyan state TV reported that what it called the "crusader enemy" had bombed civilian areas of Tripoli, as well as fuel storage tanks supplying the western city of Misrata.
A Libyan government spokesman described the coalition attacks as "aggression without excuse" and claimed Col Gaddafi had accepted the UN resolution and declared a ceasefire.
He claimed many civilians had been hurt and said ambulance crews had been "doing their best to save as many lives as possible".
A US military spokesman said they would have to wait for daylight before they could assess the success of the missile strikes.
After hosting a meeting of the government's emergency management committee Cobra in Downing Street, Mr Cameron said: "British forces are in action over Libya. They are part of an international coalition to enforce the will of the United Nations.
"We have all seen the appalling brutality meted out by Col Gaddafi against his own people."
It was a "just cause" and in "Britain's best interests", he added.

Tomahawk missile

  • Long-range weapon designed to hit strategic targets with the minimum of collateral damage
  • Able to deliver 1,000lb (450kg) warhead to a range of about 1,000 miles (1,600km)
  • Can fly at low or high altitude
Source: Ministry of Defence
British and US submarines fired 110 Tomahawks in total at Libyan targets.
The Chief of Defence Staff's strategic communications officer Maj Gen John Lorimer said: "This is the first stage. UK and partner forces remain engaged in ongoing operations as we seek to ensure that Col Gaddafi and his forces understand that the international community will not stand by and watch them kill civilians."
Labour shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said: "We are trying to achieve something relatively precise, which is to stop Gaddafi, his military, his heavy artillery, his tanks, his aeroplanes, from being able to make attacks upon civilian centres.
"And I think that can be done in the way in which the UN's outlined. It won't happen immediately, but I think it can be done."
'Ignored warning' The former British ambassador to Libya, Oliver Miles, told the BBC it was clear the long-term aim of the military action was to overthrow Col Gaddafi.
Conservative MP Col Bob Stewart, who was a UN commander in Bosnia, predicted that Col Gaddafi's forces would desert their leader.
A British Trafalgar class submarine of the type in action in Libya A British Trafalgar class submarine of the type in action in Libya, pictured recently
"Col Gaddafi is one man, and he has to rely on an organisation - he can't do everything. And that organisation will rapidly shrink away from him once those people around him realise the game is up. And that's what it is - the game should be up.
"And Gaddafi was given enough warning about this, and he ignored it."
A British journalist was being held by Libyan authorities in the capital Tripoli, Arab television station Al Jazeera revealed on Sunday night.
Cameraman Kamel Atalua was detained with a fellow cameraman and two correspondents, after the team had been reporting from Libya for several days.
The military action follows the passing of a UN resolution imposing a ban on all flights in Libyan airspace, excluding aid flights, and authorises member states to "take all necessary measures" to "protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12797500
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