France sends military advisers to Libya

France said Wednesday it has sent military advisers into insurgent-held eastern Libya, with Britain and Italy set to follow suit, as Tripoli warned foreign boots on the ground would prolong the conflict. The developments come as the besieged rebel-held city of Misrata desperately pleaded for help against Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's forces, who have been pounding it for
more than six weeks. The bombardment continued on Wednesday, with loud explosions heard mid-afternoon in Misrata, where there was heavy overnight fighting and from which thousands of people are trying to flee. And two French Mirage fighter jets believed to be involved in operations against Libya were forced to make emergency landings in Malta on Wednesday after running out of fuel, civil aviation sources said.
In Paris, France's foreign ministry spokeswoman said: "France has placed a small number of liaison officers alongside our special envoy to Benghazi who are carrying out a liaison mission with the TNC. "The precise objective is to give the TNC essentially technical, logistical and organisational advice to reinforce the protection of civilians and to improve the distribution of humanitarian and medical aid," she said.
She was referring to the rebel Transitional National Council, which so far has publicly rejected any suggestion of foreign troops on the ground as Nato warplanes enforce a US-mandated no-fly zone designed to protect civilians. Government spokesman Francois Baroin said "fewer than 10" officers are involved, and repeated France's position: "We are not envisaging troops on the ground, in any shape or form." Baroin also said France was not seeking a new UN Security Council action that would give the allies a broader mandate to intervene in Libya.
"We are not taking the initiative to seek a new Security Council resolution. The French position is stable and unchanged on this problem of applying Resolution 1973," he said. The resolution permitted the use of force to protect Libyan civilians, but explicitly forbids a "foreign occupation force" - a phrase some states interpret as banning any ground intervention at all. The announcement came the day after France's main ally in the drive to help rebels, Britain, said it would send advisers to help organise the stalled rebellion.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said London would send 12 military advisers to eastern Libya, but that they would not be involved in training or arming the rebels, or help in planning operations. "They're not boots on the ground; this is not British ground combat forces going in ... There is going to be no ground invasion of Libya," Hague told BBC television.
Hague said the advisers would help rebels develop organisational structures, communications and logistics and co-ordinate humanitarian aid and medical supplies. Italy's Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa, meanwhile, said his country would also send 10 army advisers to aid the rebels. "There is a clear understanding that the rebels have to be trained," La Russa said.
Libya was an Italian colony from 1911 until World War II and has retained close ties with the North African state. Italian energy major ENI is the top foreign oil producer in Libya and Italy is Libya's top trade partner. Italy had major defence and construction contracts with the regime, many of which have now been suspended. Kadhafi was also a frequent visitor to Rome, where he enjoyed friendly ties with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
France and Britain, which launched the first air strikes on March 19, have struggled to convince allies to intensify the air war while Nato commanders are scrambling to obtain even more ground-attack jets. On Tuesday evening, Nuri Abdullah Abdullati, a senior member of Misrata's governing council, pleaded for help to break the nearly two-month-old Kadhafi siege of the Mediterranean port city that has killed hundreds.