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By Cheng Gang, Gu Di in Benghazi and Jia Cheng in Beijing France and Italy have joined Britain in sending military advisors to Libya to work with opposition forces, after the rebel army requested foreign troops to help fight forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi. "France has placed a small number of liaison officers alongside our special envoy to Benghazi who are carrying out a liaison mission with Libya's rebel Transitional National Council (TNC)," AFP quoted France's foreign ministry spokeswoman, Christine Fage, as saying. France said on Wednesday that fewer than 10 officials would be sent to help the Libyan rebels and enforce the UN resolution on protecting civilians and improving the distribution of humanitarian and medical aid. He also insisted that France opposed the deployment of troops on the ground in Libya, saying, "We do not envisage deploying combat ground troops," according to AFP. Meanwhile, Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa said his country was "ready to send the same number of military staff as Britain to be instructors in Libya." There are obviously differences among Western powers on the issue of sending ground troops to Libya. France used to have colonies in North Africa, so it has been playing a major role in the Western attacks against Gaddafi, said Yin Gang, a senior Middle East expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. However, Britain also has special interests in Libya, especially in the oil fields near Bengazi, so the British government was the first among Western countries to send military advisors, Yin added. The French and Italian governments' moves came a day after Britain said it was sending a number of officers to help the rebels. About 12 military advisors were to be sent to Benghazi to help the rebels develop organizational structures, communications and logistics, and to coordinate humanitarian aid and medical supplies, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Tuesday, adding that British advisors would not arm or train the rebels. Chen Zhimin, an expert on Europe at Fudan University, told the Global Times that the West's sending of military advisors to Libya is aimed at preventing the rebels from a complete defeat, but they will face more opposition and resistance if they plan to deploy ground troops. "France and Britain have to convince other countries that Libya has already plunged into a serious humanitarian crisis, before they can get consent from the UN, which seems to be very unlikely at the moment," he said. Wang Zhaokun and Agencies contributed to this story |
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