Euro MPs urge EU to recognise Libyan rebels
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The head of the parliament's Liberals, former Belgian Prime minister Guy Verhofstadt, told the 736 member of chamber two days before an emergency summit of European Union heads of state and government that it was time to grant "recognition" to the rebels.
"We have to start the process of recognition of the provisional national council as the representatives of the Libyan people," said Verhofstadt, instrumental in bringing Mahmud Gebril, Libya's former planning minister, and Ali al-Essawi, former ambassador to India, to the house.
"We have to neutralise as quickly as possible Colonel Moamer Qadhafi's capacity to kill his citizens," Verhofstadt added.
Addressing EU foreign and security affairs chief Catherine Ashton during an early morning debate, Greens leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit also said: "We call on you to recognise the government of the (Libyan) interior."
He said it was "the only force that can bring democracy to Libya," warning that victory for Qadhafi would mean "the end of democracy across the region" and "reward for dictators."
Cohn-Bendit also backed Gebril's call late on Tuesday to Western military powers to enforce a no-fly zone over Libyan territory.
"Obviously we are not going to bombard Libya, but we can't let Qadhafi bombard Libyan towns" either, he said.
But the conservatives, the parliament's biggest grouping, urged caution, Jose Ignacio Salafranca saying that while Europe could not ignore "massacres" on the ground, "we have to act in a clear and controlled way," meaning only on United Nations orders.
Socialists chief Martin Schulz said the EU had "the choice between our emotions, which push us to keep all options open, and the risk of making a bad decision."
He said a "no-fly zone would mean the destruction of Qadhafi's air force, which needs a decision by the United Nations Security Council and the involvement of the Arab League and African Union.
"It's the only solution if we are to attack Libya but let's not move too quickly," he underlined.
Calling for "military assistance without direct military intervention," Gebril said that "empowering the people to continue their armed struggles against Qadhafi can be done by different means" and underlined that a "no-fly zone is one of them."
The provisional national council is led by former Libyan justice minister Mustafa Abdel Jalil, who quit Qadhafi's regime before the protest movement there veered towards full civil war.
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