France vows to step up airstrikes in Libya
France said Wednesday it has already sent military officers to work with Libyan rebels on the ground, in addition to stepping up airstrikes. Italy and Britain have said they're also sending military officers.
European officials portray their assistance as an effort to fill the military gap with Qaddafi's forces - and turn the tide without overstepping rules of the UN-sanctioned military operation to protect civilians.
The acting foreign minister of the National Transitional Council said the rebel movement's political wing wants more, like weapons for an "official army" and forces from friendly nations if that's what it takes to topple the Libyan leader.
"We have made no official demand, (but) all possibilities are open," Ali Al-Issaoui said at a news conference.
The opposition council's visiting president, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, said rebels have already received arms "but they are not sufficient." Hours earlier, President Nicolas Sarkozy said that France would step up its share of the NATO-led airstrikes aimed at knocking out Qaddafi's military apparatus to protect civilians.
"We will help you," Sarkozy promised the visiting Libyan opposition leader, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, who said he asked France "to intensify the support accorded to the Libyan revolution." "We will intensify the strikes," Sarkozy responded, according to a presidential aide who was not authorized to be publicly named according to policy.
France also revealed it has already placed a handful of liaison officers in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
France agreed to place "a small number of liaison officers alongside our special envoy in Benghazi," French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Christine Fages said in an online briefing Wednesday.
Italy, too, announced plans to send help - 10 military instructors - although Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa, like France, ruled out sending ground troops. Britain said Tuesday it was sending up to 20 military advisers to help Libya's rebel forces.
In Washington, the Obama administration said Wednesday it plans to give the Libyan opposition $25 million in non-lethal assistance - the first direct US aid to the rebels - after weeks of assessing their capabilities and intentions.
Washington ensured that the items, surplus American goods, cannot be converted into offensive military assets, officials said.
The aid would support the Transitional Council and "our efforts to protect civilians and the civilian populated areas that are under threat of attack from their own government in Libya," US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said.
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