US, NATO bases prepare Libya attack?

The US and NATO bases in Italy are preparing for military action against Libya as forces loyal to Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi mass in the west of the country, analysts say.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/167635.html


US, NATO bases prepare Libya attack?
Tue Mar 1, 2011 11:7AM

pics
1[According to US officials, the United States is moving warships and aircraft, including the USS Enterprise (seen in the photo) into the Mediterranean Sea near Libya.]
2[The UK's HMS Cumberland is stationed in Libyan waters.]
3[Body bags reveal fate of soldiers who refused to fire on protesters in Libya's revolution.]

The US and NATO bases in Italy are preparing for military action against Libya as forces loyal to Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi mass in the west of the country, analysts say.


"We signed the friendship treaty with a state, but when the counterpart no longer exists -- in this case the Libyan state -- the treaty cannot be applied," Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told Sky Italia about a treaty signed between Tripoli and Rome three years ago.

The suspension of the treaty makes it possible for Rome to take part in any peacekeeping operations in crisis-hit Libya.

It will also allow Italy to give permission to its allies to use military bases across the country in any military engagement with Libya.

Under the 2008 treaty between Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Gaddafi, Italy paid Libya $5 billion to compensate Libya for the colonial rule.

Several NATO and US bases are located in Italy, including the US Sixth Fleet, which is based near Naples.

“But that (resigning from the treaty) doesn't necessarily open the possibility that US or NATO forces could launch military operations in the North African country from Italian soil," Aldo Amati, Deputy Press Secretary for Italian Foreign Ministry said. "There's no link between the two things."

However, analysts maintain that Italy's resignation from the treaty is a prelude to a military intervention in Libya.

Britain, France and the United States have dispatched hundreds of military advisors to Libya to set up military bases in the country's oil-rich east.

British and US special forces entered Libyan port cities of Benghazi and Toburk on February 23 and 24.

Three Indian navy warships are also expected to be deployed in the region. Earlier on Monday, the US military confirmed it has deployed naval and air forces around Libya.

US military maintains a heavy presence in the Mediterranean. Washington has bases in Spain and Turkey.

Meanwhile, forces loyal to Gaddafi were massed in the west of the country, closing the border with Tunisia.

Pro-Gaddafi forces have also surrounded in the country's west, preparing to re-take the city of Nalut from the demonstrators. Residents fear an imminent attack by the government forces.

Massive crackdown on pro-democracy protesters who urge an immediate end to Gaddafi's rule has so far left more than 2,000 people killed across Libya in the past two weeks.

RZS/HRF
Related Stories:

* Saudi Arabia vows to raise oil output
* Several protesters killed in Tripoli
* 'Gaddafi seeks West help for crackdown'
* More Russians evacuated from Libya