As the US’ NATO allies shoulder a greater share of the mission in Libya, the Arab countries that urged the UN Security Council to impose a no-fly zone are missing from the action.
Except for the small Persian Gulf nation of Qatar, which is expected to start flying air patrols over Libya by this weekend, no other members of the 22-member Arab League so far have publicly committed to taking an active role. The US has sold many of these countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, billions of dollars in sophisticated military gear over the past decade to help counter Iran’s power in the region.
In the latest round of attacks, the international coalition struck at Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s military sites with jet bombers and more than a dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles, a US defense official said yesterday.
Targets late on Wednesday and early yesterday included Qaddafi’s air defense missile sites in Tripoli and south of the capital, as well as an ammunition bunker south of Misrata and forces south of Benghazi, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.
Nearly a week into the campaign to prevent Qaddafi’s forces from attacking civilians, the US increased the pressure on its NATO allies to take command of the campaign, suggesting the US might even step away from its leadership role in a few days, even with the conflict’s outcome in doubt.
Officials said there was no absolute deadline to hand over front-line control to other countries, or for an end to all US participation. Still, with the costs of the campaign growing by the day and members of the US Congress raising complaints over the goals in Libya, the administration of US President Barack Obama wants its allies to take the lead role soon.
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, an early skeptic of US military intervention in Libya, said Obama made clear from the start of the campaign on Saturday that the US would run it for only about a week.
In an exchange with reporters traveling with him in Cairo on Wednesday, Gates was asked if his comments meant the US had set a firm deadline of this Saturday for turning over command.
“I don’t want to be pinned down that closely,” Gates replied.
“But what we’ve been saying is that we would expect this transition to the coalition, to a different command and control arrangement, to take place within a few days and I would still stand by that,” he said.
A US Army general now oversees the campaign from Europe, and a US Navy admiral is the day-to-day commander from a floating command post off the Libyan coast.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique