Cameron increases pressure on Gaddafi

David Cameron has raised the prospect of more aggressive international action against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in an effort to prevent him carrying out further attacks on his own people.

The Prime Minister has ordered government officials to draw up plans with Britain's allies for a no-fly zone over Libya. He also suggested that anti-regime forces could be armed to help oust the dictator.

The intervention came as Col Gaddafi again dismissed demands to quit, insisting his people "loved" him and blaming al-Qa'ida for the uprising.

Speaking in the Commons yesterday, Mr Cameron said the international community could not tolerate the "illegitimate" regime using military force on the civilian population and warned that they needed to be ready to act if the repression worsened.

"We do not in any way rule out the use of military assets. We must not tolerate this regime using military force against its own people," he told MPs.

"In that context I have asked the Ministry of Defence and the Chief of the Defence Staff to work with our allies on plans for a military no-fly zone."

He added: "Of course we must comply with international law, but my argument is that we need to do the preparation and the planning now because no one can be sure what Col Gaddafi will do to his own people.

"If he starts taking that sort of action we might need to have a no-fly zone in place very quickly."

Asked whether Britain would be willing to arm rebel groups, Mr Cameron said: "If helping the opposition would somehow bring that about it is certainly something we should be considering."

The Prime Minister spoke to French president Nicolas Sarkozy on the telephone last night, and agreed that their experts would work together on "the range of possible options for increasing pressure on the regime", according to Downing Street.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, attending the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, said that America was also actively looking at the possibility of a no-fly zone.

"The no-fly zone is an option we are actively considering. I discussed it today with allies and partners," she said. "All options are on the table. That of course includes a no-fly zone."

The Libyan deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Ibrahim al-Dabashi - one of a number of diplomats to desert the regime - said it was "very important" to have a no-fly zone to "prevent the dictator using helicopters to terrorise people in the streets".

"He uses these helicopters to shoot on people," he told BBC Radio 4's PM programme. "People are afraid to go to the streets whenever they see the helicopters."

Downing Street would not be drawn on whether the imposition of a no-fly zone would require a United Nations mandate.

At the weekend, the UN Security Council unanimously backed a strongly worded resolution condemning Col Gaddafi's actions and imposing travel bans and asset freezes on leading regime figures.

However, diplomats believe that securing agreement on a no-fly zone could prove more problematic.

Mr Cameron acknowledged that it was "not without its difficulties and its problems" and said that there was a limit to what it could achieve.

"Libya is an enormous country, you are trying to cover a vast area, it would take a serious amount of military assets to achieve it. It obviously doesn't necessarily stop all oppression of the Libyan people because there are other ways other than helicopter gunships and planes to carry that out," he said.

"But, I do think it is one thing we need to look at, look at urgently, and plan for in case we find as we may well do that Col Gaddafi is taking further appalling steps to oppress his people."

In an interview with the BBC last night, Gaddafi insisted his people "loved" him.

"They love me, all my people love me," he said. "They would die to protect me."

Asked why so many appeared to be rebelling, he blamed al Qaida fighters.

"This is al-Qa'ida, not my people," Gaddafi said. "They come from outside."

Gaddafi's remarks were met with derision in Washington.

Susan Rice, US ambassador to the United Nations, said: "It sounds, just frankly, delusional."

She said his behaviour, which has included laughing on camera in interviews, "underscores how unfit he is to lead and how disconnected he is from reality".

British aid officials have been stationed on Libya's borders with Egypt and Tunisia to prepare to assist humanitarian victims of the current unrest in co-operation with the United Nations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), said International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell.

The minister told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "We are monitoring very carefully what is happening there. We are working closely with the UN and a number of NGOs.

"Today we are flying from our stocks in Dubai tents and blankets and support in conjunction with the UN to help people, particularly on the Tunisian border, who are caught there."

The United Nations Emergency Relief Co-ordinator Baroness Amos called on EU nations to open their borders to refugees fleeing violence in Libya.

Lady Amos said that neighbours Egypt and Tunisia were already accepting significant numbers of people, who included not only migrant workers returning to their homes but also workers, refugees and asylum seekers from sub-Saharan Africa who had been living in Libya.

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "In asking for the borders of neighbouring countries like Tunisia and Egypt to stay open, it is important that the borders of EU countries also stay open.

"I know the EU countries are going through a difficult financial time right now but... they are still much better off than the people who are fleeing an extremely violent and difficult security situation in Libya.

"Our appeal to those EU countries is to keep their borders open for people who are fleeing a violent and difficult security situation. I think an announcement to that effect would give people a lot of comfort. We will continue to ask the EU and neighbouring countries to keep their borders open and I know my colleagues in the UN refugee agency and the UN human rights organisation will be asking exactly the same thing."