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UN resolution not needed for Libya no-fly zone, says Hague

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, March 14, IRNA -- British Foreign Secretary William Hague insisted Monday that while the 'cleanest and simplest' way of securing a legal basis for a no-fly zone over Libya would be a UN Security Council resolution, it was not necessarily essential.

'In cases of great, overwhelming humanitarian need, then nations are able to act under international law, even without a resolution of the security council,' Hague said.

'We are now reaching a point of decision, very clearly, on what happens next,' he said, adding that clearly a no-fly zone is one of the leading propositions.”

“It isn't the answer to everything but it has been called for by the Arab League and is something which the international community must now consider,' he said ahead of meeting fellow G8 foreign ministers in Paris on Monday night.

Hague, who was forced to deny claims he might resign over his handling of the Libyan crisis over the weekend, has been leading Britain's case for military intervention despite divisions in NATO and Europe.

Fears have already been expressed that Britain has failed to learn leasons from the Iraq war, including the questionable legality of the 2003 invasion without securing a clear UN mandate.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's programme Monday, he also indicated that Britain could consider arming the rebels to help them combat the superior firepower of Libya's security forces.

Writing in the Times, former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind called for an 'open and urgent' supply of weapons to the rebels, to avoid repeating the 'mistake' of the Bosnian war in the 1990s.

'Having been defence secretary at the time I have, in retrospect, felt that (the arms embargo) was the most serious mistake made by the UN,' Rifkind said.

'I think Malcolm Rifkind makes a very good case. Again, this is the kind of subject which has to be discussed with our international partners,' Hague said.

He warned that if Muammar Gaddafi's regime was able to push back the rebels and re-establish control, the future for the country would be bleak.

“This would be a long nightmare for the Libyan people and this would be a pariah state for some time to come,' he said.