India’s decision to abstain from a United Nations Security Council vote to impose a no-fly zone over Libya has drawn criticism from rebels seeking to overthrow the Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

The Security Council on Thursday voted 10-0 in favour of a resolution that imposes a no-fly zone over Libya and allows all necessary steps to protect the Libyan people. The vote took place just hours after Gaddafi vowed to wipe out rebels in their eastern stronghold of Benghazi.

The resolution authorises member states “to take all necessary measures… to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack in [Libya], including Benghazi, while excluding an occupation force.”

The resolution, sponsored by Britain, France and Lebanon, bans all flights, except humanitarian ones, over Libya. Besides imposing a no-fly zone, it calls for an arms embargo and demands an immediate ceasefire in Libya.

India was one of five countries to abstain. The other abstentions came from two of the council’s permanent veto-wielding members, Russia and China, and Germany and Brazil.

Earlier this week, Libyan state TV showed footage of Gaddafi meeting envoys from India, China and Russia, said Mohamed Benrasali, a member of the provisional committee administering the city of Misurata.

“State TV was bragging that these meetings were a sign of the legitimacy of the regime,” Benrasali told The Tribune in a phone interview. “The regime is bribing these countries with oil deals and construction contracts. Libyans will see them as the enemy,” he added. Other Libyans and Libyan Americans also expressed disappointment over India’s action. “India was a bit of a letdown. That [abstention] is going to be difficult to live down,” a Libyan American said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Explaining India’s decision to abstain, Manjeev Singh Puri, India’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, said that the resolution authorised "far reaching measures … with relatively little credible information on the ground situation in Libya.”

“’We do not have clarity about details of enforcement measures and how these measures will be exactly carried out,’’ he reportedly told the UNSC members.

Puri added that the financial measures proposed in the resolution could impact ongoing trade and investment activities of a number of member states.

He said, however, that India is “gravely concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Libya and calls on the Libyan authorities to order a ceasefire, protect the civilian population and address the legitimate demands of the Libyans.”

In his remarks, Gaddafi warned the residents of Benghazi that his troops were coming “tonight” and there would be “no mercy or compassion” for those who resist.

Heavy fighting was also reported from the cities of Adjabiya and Misurata.

Earlier, Benghazi residents told The Tribune that pro-Gadhafi warplanes had bombed the outskirts of the city, including its airport. Phone service was disrupted in Libya’s second-largest city and residents could only be contacted on their satellite phones. The Arab League was among the first to back a no-fly zone over Libya. The UN resolution calls on Arab League states to cooperate with other member states in implementing the resolution.

US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, William Burns, told senators on Thursday that the Obama administration is interested in Arab partnership. Discussions with some Arab states have already started along these lines.

Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Institution's centre in Doha (Qatar), said in a phone interview that imposing a no-fly zone at this stage “may be too little too late.” “But it’s better late than never,” he added.

Meanwhile, in a sign that the Obama administration may be preparing to officially recognise the Libyan opposition, Burns said the US has authorised the Interim Transitional National Council to open an office in Washington.

He said the Obama administration is still trying to develop a clearer picture of the opposition’s goals.

“I don't want to pretend that we have a full picture in which we have total confidence,” Burns told senators.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met Libyan opposition envoy Mahmood Jibril in Paris on Monday. Burns said Clinton “came away impressed with his seriousness.”

Tokyo, March 18
Japanese engineers conceded on Friday that burying a crippled nuclear plant in sand and concrete may be the last resort to prevent a catastrophic radiation release, the method used to seal huge leakages from Chernobyl in 1986.

But they still hoped to solve the crisis by fixing a power cable to two reactors by Saturday to restart water pumps needed to cool overheating nuclear fuel rods. Workers also sprayed water on the reactor No 3, the most critical of the plant’s six reactors.

It was the first time the facility operator had acknowledged burying the sprawling 40-year-old complex was possible, a sign that piecemeal actions such as dumping water from military helicopters or scrambling to restart cooling pumps may not work.

“It is not impossible to encase the reactors in concrete. But our priority right now is to try and cool them down first,” an official from the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co, told a news conference.

As Japan entered its second week after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and 10-metre (33-foot) tsunami flattened coastal cities and killed thousands, the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl and Japan’s worst humanitarian crisis since World War Two looked far from over.

Around 6,500 persons have been confirmed dead due to the earthquake and tsunami while 10,300 are missing, many feared dead. — Reuters 

London, March 18
Congress president Sonia Gandhi said most of the climate debate so far had been “gender-blind” as she voiced concern over women’s voices and concerns hardly figuring in global climate negotiations.

Gandhi also felt there was a need for “climate justice” not only between countries but also between genders.

“Among all challenges facing humankind in the 21st century, few are more pressing than climate change. Unfortunately most of the climate debate so far has been gender-blind ignoring the role played by women in raising environmental consciousness,” she said.

She is on a five-day “private visit” here. She was given a standing ovation as she walked to the podium to deliver the lecture in a packed hall that comprised high commissioners and British lawmakers. — PTI