20110414
presstv
Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim has accused Qatar of dispatching anti-tank missiles to assist revolutionary forces in the country.


"Qatar sent French Milan missiles to the opposition forces in Benghazi," Kaim said Wednesday, adding that 20 Qatari trainers had been sent to help some 700 revolutionary forces in the Lybian city of Benghazi, AFP reported.

After a meeting of representatives from some European and Middle Eastern countries in Qatar earlier in the day, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani said they would provide the Libyan revolutionaries with “material support” which could include arming the people.

Qatar is the only Arab state that has participated in the NATO-led war in troubled Libya, deploying two fighter jets and two C-17 transport aircraft to the North African country.

As the rift on a uniform strategy in Libya widens between NATO members, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron have agreed to step up military pressure on Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, calling for more help from their allies.

Italian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maurizio Massari has also called on the international community to arm Libyan revolutionaries, saying the measure will be in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1973 that allows all necessary actions to protect civilians.

Gaddafi's former allies -- the United States, Britain, France, Canada, Denmark and Belgium -- have launched airstrikes on Libya since March 19, under the same mandate.

NATO's military operation is to save Libyan oppositionists from Gaddafi mercenaries, an objective the Western military alliance has failed to achieve so far.