20110318
reuters

TRIPOLI, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said on Friday that the Libyan government had halted all military operations and would honor its ceasefire declaration.

No military action had been taken since the Libyan government announced a ceasefire earlier in the day, Kaim told a press conference here.

But he stressed that government troops would counterattack if attacked by rebel forces.

Government troops were now positioned outside the eastern port city of Benghazi, the stronghold of the rebels, but had no intention of entering the city, Kaim added.

The Libyan government has asked the international community to send observers to Libya to monitor the ceasefire and find out the truth of the matter on the ground, he said.

Tripoli is ready to provide an international fact-finding mission with the name lists of both the perpetrators and their victims, he said, adding that recent inhumane crimes in Benghazi and Misurata, another rebel-held city, were all committed by the rebels.

In a resolution passed Thursday after an emergency meeting, the UN Security Council agreed to impose a no-fly zone over Libya and authorize "all necessary measures" to protect civilians in the Northern African country.