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EU ministers urge Libya to end attacks on protests

22 February 2011 02:15 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. European Union foreign ministers sharply criticized Libyan authorities on Monday for cracking down on pro-democracy protesters, overcoming a disagreement over how tough the EU should be in denouncing Moammar Gadhafi’s government, APA reports quoting â€œAssociated Pressâ€.
The Council of Foreign Ministers "condemns the ongoing repression against demonstrators in Libya and deplores the violence and death of civilians," the 27 European Union foreign ministers said in a statement following their regular monthly meeting.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called for an immediate end to the use of force against the Libyan protesters, adding that peaceful protests must be allowed.
"I hope the Libyan authorities will listen to that," she said.
In the bloodiest crackdown in any of the Arab countries where such protests are under way, or recently occurred, Gadhafi’s regime has killed more than 200 people in Libya, according to medical officials, human rights groups and exiled dissidents.
Ashton, who is traveling to Egypt late Monday, said the EU ministers held preliminary talks on a comprehensive economic and trade package to help countries in Northern Africa affected by the turmoil. The discussions will continue in coming days and weeks, she said.
"This is our neighborhood. ... Europe should be judged by its ability to act in its own neighborhood," she said.
During the meeting several foreign ministers, including Britain’s and Germany’s, blasted Gadhafi’s regime and demanded tough measures against it, officials said.
But other ministers, including those from Italy and the Czech Republic, called for a more measured tone, saying Libya was on the verge of chaos.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague urged Libya to investigate the violence and hold those responsible to account, to allow international human rights monitors into the country, and to end restrictions on the internet and the harassment of journalists.
"The credibility of the Libyan government in these matters has been undermined so far by their failure to protect their own people and to respond to their legitimate grievances," Hague said.
But Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini expressed concern about a possible civil war and breakup of Libya, saying he feared that an Islamic state could be set up in the area bordering Egypt.
"I’m very concerned about the idea of dividing Libya in two, in Cyrenaica and in Tripoli. That would be really dangerous," he said. Cyrenaica is the country’s eastern region, where the largest anti-government protests have taken place.
Libya has seen the bloodiest crackdown of any Arab country of the wave of protests sweeping the region that toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia.
On Sunday, Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi’s son went on Libyan television and offered to put forward reforms within days that he described as "historic." Seif al-Islam Gadhafi said the regime was willing to remove some restrictions and begin discussions on a constitution. He also offered to change a number of laws, including those covering the media and the penal code.
But Gadhafi’s son also said Libya’s armed forces are with his father, and "We will fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet."
The government in Tripoli has threatened to discontinue cooperation with the EU in blocking immigration from the North Africa to Europe, if the bloc continues backing the protesters.
Frattini, whose country is the closest in Europe to Libya, already has received thousands of Tunisian migrants after the overthrow of that country’s authoritarian government last month.
The EU has deployed a 35-member team of customs officials and border agents to assist Italian authorities on the southernmost island of Lampedusa off the North African coastline.
"We Europeans are very concerned about the migratory flows impact that would be one of the consequences of more turbulence in North Africa," Frattini said.
But other ministers dismissed the Libyan threat.
"The European Union should not let itself be blackmailed (by Gadhafi)," said German Deputy Foreign Minister Werner Hoyer.