Diplomacy

Britain, France Back Libya No-Fly Zone

Drafting U.N. resolution after Gaddafi's air assaults.

On the heels of reports that troops loyal to controversial Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi are launching aerial attacks on rebels, defeating them at a clash in the coastal town of Bin Jawwad on Sunday, Britain and France are in the process of drafting a U.N. resolution establishing a no-fly zone over the country to prevent Gaddafi’s troops from further bombing civilians. A British diplomat at the U.N. informed the Associated Press that the resolution is being prepared as a contingency, but so far no plans are in place to introduce it at the U.N. Security Council. Although several U.S. senators, including John McCain, have pressed the Obama administration to support a no-fly zone, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, wary of dragging the U.S. into another military conflict, warned last week that such action would amount to an act of war, saying “a no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya” to immobilize its air defenses.