Libya vows to fight any foreign troops
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China.org.cn, April 20, 2011
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Tuesday that he opposes sending troops to Libya, Xinhua reported.
"For my part I remain totally opposed to deployment of forces on the ground," he was cited by local media as saying.
Juppe insisted that it is the task of the National Transitional Council (NTC) and its troops to do the ground fightings. "They can play this role without the need to deploy ground forces," Juppe argued.
When asked why U.S. has not taken further actions while UK is planning to send a group of miltiary officers to Libya and France has recognized the Libyan opposion, the State Department spokesman Mark Toner said, "They've been vital partners in this whole process. And we believe they're playing a very productive and constructive role,"
"It doesn't mean necessarily that we're going to follow suit or bring our capabilities to bear where they're already bringing their capabilities to bear," Toner told reporters on Tuesday.
"We're also looking at other ways – diplomatic pressure on Gaddafi continuing with the arms embargo, financial sanctions to put pressure on him and his regime to convince them that they need to step aside," said Toner
"It doesn't necessarily need to be done through the barrel of a gun. It can be done through diplomatic pressure. And we're continuing to look at ways to apply that pressure," Toner continued.
The situation in Misrata is worsening day by day as the city is surrounded on all sides by forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who pummelled the city with rockets, artillery, shells and cluster bombs on daily basis, Xinhua reported.
