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Germany rejects Libya ceasefire monitoring role

BERLIN | Fri Mar 18, 2011 8:02pm EDT

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany on Saturday dismissed a Libyan invitation to send observers to monitor a ceasefire between government forces and rebels, saying that only the United Nations should carry out the task.

Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim had told reporters in Tripoli that Libya was asking China, Germany, Malta and Turkey to send observers to monitor its adherence to the ceasefire.

A German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said: "It's the job of the U.N. and nobody else to observe the ceasefire or to decide how it should be observed."

Germany abstained on Thursday from a vote on a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing military action to protect civilians in Libya, which its European Union allies Britain and France supported, due to worries there would be civilian victims.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said Berlin had opted not to join military operations in Libya. However, Germany was discussing with NATO whether it could take on AWACS aerial reconnaissance duties in Afghanistan.

German politicians had said Berlin might contribute indirectly to the international mission by freeing up U.S. reconnaissance plane crews needed for Libya.

(Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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Comments (2)
SeniorMoment wrote:
I don’t know whether to call modern Germans cowards, smart not to trust Gadhafi with the lives of any of its citizens, or simply advocates for the U. N. to take its proper role. Running the AWACS mission over Afghanistan is merely another non-combat assignment for Europeans, but it is better than doing nothing at all, since it frees an AWACS force to do dedicated monitoring of Libya.

Americans though seem to produce better soldiers for combat duty, so I hope the German’s never have to defend themselves against invasion of their homeland.

Mar 19, 2011 5:10am EDT  --  Report as abuse
SSmilie wrote:
The United States should follow Germany’s example and refuse a monitoring role. It is time for someone else to step up and be the world’s big brother. We have multi trillion dollar deficits, we can’t afford to be shooting up Libya, much less patrolling her once the shooting war is over.

Mar 24, 2011 3:50pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
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