BENGHAZI – Libya on Thursday warned it could target all Mediterranean air and sea traffic in the case of foreign military intervention, as world powers edged towards tough measures aimed at shutting down Moamer Gaddafi’s military machine.
“Any military operation against Libya will expose all air and maritime traffic in the Mediterranean to danger,” the official Jana news agency quoted Libya’s defence ministry spokesman as saying. “And any civilian or military moving traffic will be the target of a Libyan counter-offensive.”
The warning came ahead of a UN Security Council vote in New York on a Libya resolution set for 6pm (2200 GMT), with the draft calling for “all necessary measures” against forces loyal to Gaddafi, a diplomat at the United Nations said. Libya’s military had said earlier it would halt operations from Sunday to allow rebels to lay down their arms, softening repeated threats by Gaddafi to crush them.
With the urgent talks at the United Nations and warnings of an imminent bloodbath in the oil-rich North African nation, insurgents claimed they had shot down warplanes trying to bomb their Benghazi bastion and disputed claims of territorial gains by Gaddafi forces.
