Britain’s top diplomat refrained from setting a deadline for the military campaign in Libya, as Russia warned that the campaign could turn into a land operation.
Britain’s top diplomat refrained from setting a deadline for the military campaign in Libya, as Russia warned that the campaign could turn into a land operation.
"We're not going to set a deadline. You're asking about Christmas and who knows, it could be days or weeks or months, (but) it is worth doing," Hague told BBC television.
Hours after NATO deployed attack helicopters for the first time in the military campaign, British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Saturday met leaders of opposition who have been fighting to oust strongman Muammar Gaddafi.
Hague also defended the use of attack helicopters and ruled out putting forces on the ground in Libya, saying NATO would stick to the terms of a UN Security Council resolution passed in March to protect civilians.
"This is not mission creep, changing the nature of the mission, this is intensifying what we are doing in order to make this mission a success," he added.
Hague held talks in Benghazi with the head of the opposition National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, and toured a medical center treating war wounded.
AIRSTRIKES RESUMED
Meanwhile, NATO intensified airstrikes on Tripoli with warplanes pounded the Libyan capital and its eastern suburbs, where several explosions were heard.
Four blasts shook Tripoli at around 2:30 am (0030 GMT) Sunday after two powerful but distant explosions were felt in the center of the capital at around 6:30 pm on Saturday, followed by several others within a few minutes.
Witnesses reported four more at midday Sunday in Tajura, a suburb often targeted by NATO since the international coalition began military operations against Libya on March 31.
RUSSIA WARNS
For its part, Moscow, which is calling for a negotiated solution to the conflict, expressed alarm as the NATO campaign entered a new phase.
"We consider that what is going on is either consciously or unconsciously sliding towards a land operation," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"That would be very deplorable," Lavrov, quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency, added in reference to France and Britain's decision to deploy military helicopters in the Libya conflict.
"(NATO is) using attack helicopters on land targets, which is in my view the last but one step before the land operation," he told a military forum in Singapore.
