VOA News March 10, 2011
Photo: AFP
Libyan rebel fighters carry a wounded comrade during clashes with forces loyal to leader Moammar Gadhafi outside the town of Ras Lanuf, March 9, 2011
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U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will attend the talks in Brussels. A senior U.S. official says Gates will tell the ministers about U.S. preparations for possible emergency response operations and humanitarian relief in Libya.
European Union ministers are also meeting in Brussels to discuss Libya.
Libyan deputy foreign minister Mohamed Tahir Siala is in Athens Thursday discussing Libya's crisis with his Greek counterpart Dimitris Dollis ahead of the EU meeting. The Greek foreign ministry says the meeting in Athens was approved by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
Diplomats from Portugal have held similar talks with Libyan officials.
Western officials have expressed concern that a no-fly zone would have a limited impact on stopping the violence. But NATO diplomats say there is strong support for such a move if the Libyan government escalates attacks on civilians.
Britain and France are drafting a United Nations resolution authorizing a no-fly zone over Libya. Top advisers to U.S. President Barack Obama met Wednesday to assess the situation in Libya and consider remaining options, including the option of working with international partners to impose a no-fly zone.
Gadhafi has warned against the imposition of a no-fly zone. In an interview that aired Wednesday on Turkey's state-run television, he said Libyans would take up arms against Western nations if they imposed such a zone.
In Geneva, the U.N. special investigator on torture said he had received allegations of abuses in Libya that include torture, arbitrary detentions and extra-judicial killings. Juan Mendez said Wednesday that so far, the torture allegations are only linked to Gadhafi's government.
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