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Sweden expects Tuesday Libya mission call: Bildt

Published: 24 Mar 11 15:27 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/32800/20110324/

Foreign minister Carl Bildt believes Sweden may receive a formal request for assistance in the ongoing Libya conflict at an international summit due to be held in London next Tuesday, news agency TT reports.


Speaking after a meeting in Brussels with NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Bildt said NATO appeared increasingly likely to assume command over the UN-mandated enforcement of a no-fly zone in the North African country.

“That’s the way things are moving,” he said.

Bildt said he had not proposed sending JAS Gripen fighter planes from Sweden to Libya. Instead, he would await a concrete request from the military alliance.

“There’s no lack of airplanes [in Libya] at the moment,” Bildt told reporters. “But we’re not ruling anything out."

Bildt said it was no catastrophe that the coalition had not yet fully defined the desired outcome of the operation, the direction it should take, or who should lead it.

“The coalition has all the resources it needs so there’s no immediate danger,” said Bildt. “It’s important to get this right from the start; otherwise there is a risk it will go wrong later.”

Bildt said it was also essential to clearly identify the situations in which it was permissible to use military force.

“These are important decisions; otherwise it could go very wrong.”

The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)

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20:12 March 24, 2011 by matona1
waite till everybody in libya are dead before you go there so you can use your gripen jet to carry corps
23:22 March 24, 2011 by superturbo
attacking libya is just a waste of tax-money! Give me my tax-money back!!
23:36 March 24, 2011 by Stickeroo
Come on Sweden, time to get into the saddle n go take care of business. Just send a bunch of ground forces, destroy everything, then sell the contracts to rebuild to Swedish companies, all while taking their oil to pay for it. Ring a bell? Gas in USA is WAY cheaper! Time to take your share!
07:10 March 25, 2011 by adshasta
@Stickeroo "Gas in USA is WAY cheaper!"..., 2 reasons gas is cheaper. 1st they don't pay the higher tax and they produce a lot of it at home.
08:46 March 25, 2011 by Rebel
Does Bildt have any investments in lio firms that could profit over NATO countries plundering Libya? It may be something the pro-war media in Sweden should investigate.

Oh, and I find it odd that the American press is far more critical of this war of aggression against Libya than that of the Swedes. I suppose Swedes can't totally be blamed for acting like sheep.
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