Supporters call for Libya no-fly vote

Supporters of a no-fly zone over Libya called for a Security Council vote today on a UN resolution aimed at preventing Moammar Gadhafi's planes from conducting aerial attacks on the Libyan people, but the United States was pushing for broader action to protect civilians from land and sea attacks as well.

Britain and France put a draft resolution that would impose a no-fly zone in a final form yesterday after more than eight hours of closed-door discussions by Security Council ambassadors. France's UN Ambassador Gerard Araud said the text was being sent to capitals overnight and could still be changed before being put to a vote in the 15-member council.

With Gadhafi's forces intensifying attacks and heading toward rebel-held Bengazi, Libya's second-largest city, US Ambassador Susan Rice told the reporters the Obama administration was "fully focused on the urgency and the gravity of the situation on the ground."

According to a council diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were private, Rice said during more than eight hours of closed-door discussions by council ambassadors the goal should be expanded from creating a no-fly zone to protecting civilians, meaning the international community must have all the tools it needs including authorisation to use planes, troops or ships to stop attacks by Gadhafi's air, land and sea forces.

According to the diplomat, Rice said the US would not act without Security Council authorisation, did not want to put US ground troops into Libya, and insisted on broad international participation, especially by Arab states.

"We are interested in a broad range of actions that will effectively protect civilians and increase the pressure on the Gadhafi regime to halt the killing and to allow the Libyan people to express themselves in their aspirations for the future freely and peacefully," Rice told reporters after the meeting.

"Those include discussion of a no-fly zone, but the US view is that ... a no-fly zone has inherent limitations in terms of protection of civilians at immediate risk."

The initial draft resolution would establish a ban on all flights in Libyan airspace and authorize UN member states "to take all necessary measures" to protect civilians.

But an amendment proposed by the United States and obtained by The Associated Press would authorise states "to protect civilians and civilian objects from the Gadhafi regime, including by halting attacks by air, land and sea forces under the control of the Gadhafi regime."

During the sometimes heated closed-door discussions, the diplomat said Rice told council members the United States was very concerned that Gadhafi's forces were on a rapid march to Benghazi, and wanted the amendment because a no-fly zone was not enough to protect civilians from probable atrocities.

It was unclear if the amendment the US was calling for would remain in the text that was eventually put to a vote.

The diplomat said Russia, which has veto power, raised serious questions about the use of force against Gadhafi and other council nations reacted cautiously.

Lebanon, France and Britain introduced the draft resolution Tuesday afternoon, spurred by the Arab League's urgent call for a no-fly zone.

Rice told reporters the US was "working very hard" toward having a vote today.

China's UN Ambassador Li Baodong, the current council president, told reporters "we hope we will have real progress tomorrow."

An Obama administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because council discussions are private, said the United States was discussing a range of other concrete steps with allies, both at the United Nations and at Nato. Among those additional steps are greater humanitarian aid, supporting the Libyan resistance with money from seized Gadhafi-related assets, and greater enforcement of the UN arms embargo on Libya.

Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, whose government had expressed misgivings about a no-fly zone, proposed that the council vote first on a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Libya.

Rice told reporters a majority of council members did not support a separate cease-fire resolution but said that a call for a cease-fire could be incorporated in the no-fly resolution.

"We were not rejecting at all the larger resolution," Churkin told reporters, adding that his country thought that the call for a cease-fire "could possibly prevent impending bloodshed in Libya."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged all sides in Libya to accept an immediate cease-fire.

Ban "is gravely concerned about the increasing military escalation by government forces, which include indications of an assault on the city of Benghazi," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

The UN chief warned that "a campaign to bombard such an urban center would massively place civilian lives at risk," Nesirky said.

While Russia and Germany expressed doubts, France pushed for rapid action with Foreign Minister Alain Juppe saying in Paris that several Arab countries have pledged to participate in possible military action in the North African country.

Libya's deputy UN ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi, who supports the opposition, said five Arab countries have offered support.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called on leaders of the 14 other Security Council nations to "fully shoulder their responsibilities and give support to this initiative."

"Together, we can save the martyred people of Libya," he wrote in a letter. "It is now a matter of days, if not hours. The worst would be that the appeal of the League of the Arab States and the Security Council decisions be overruled by the force of arms."

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said during a visit to Egypt the Obama administration was consulting with the Arab League "about their understanding of the goals and modalities of a no-fly zone as well as other forms of support."

"We believe that this must be an international effort and that there has to be decisions made in the Security Council in order for any of these steps to go forward," she said.