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Thank you very much, Roland. We'll start with questions here in Brussels. German Television.
Q:My name is Kai Niklasch, German Television ZDF. One for Oana and one for Roland.
The mandate, how long will it last, the current one we have, and will there be the need for
an extension and a meeting to extend the mandate? Because I think after three months it's over
normally?
And one for Colonel Lavoie. There were heads of the army and parts of the Qadhafi family
that left Libya already. They took refuge in the neighbouring countries. Do you have
any idea now, after maybe getting some intelligence advices where Qadhafi is? Is he still in the
country? Or has he already left the country because Mr. Ocampo just said the other day
that he's calling for Interpol to pursue Qadhafi now and for me that's a clear sign that he
may have left the country already.
OANA LUNGESCU: Kai, on the mandate, as you know the situation remains very fluid. It
changes by the hour, so our military authorities and the North Atlantic Council continue to
assess the situation on the ground. Right now it's premature to talk about extending
the mandate or indeed terminating the mission. What I can say is what the Secretary General
has made very clear, that we will continue the mission for as long as necessary, but
it is also our clear intention to terminate the mission as soon as possible.
If there is to be any extension that decision has not been taken. That would be a technical
decision because there is a clear determination to terminate this operation, to get the job
done for as long as it takes, but no longer than it takes.
Roland.
COLONEL ROLAND LAVOIE: For your question, first, you're right in the sense that several
key leaders of the regime have fled the country, very senior commanders and decision makers,
so very clearly there was an exodus to some extent.
Having said that, thinking about Qadhafi specifically, to be frank, we don't know if he has left
the country. He has not made public appearances in the country now for a while and this certainly
raises questions about his whereabouts, but we don't have any sure information about where
he is at this time.
One thing I would like to stress, however, and you know that, but we are not in the business
of targeting and chasing Qadhafi, so of course our focus is on protecting the civilian population,
but I don't have... and we don't have all this information specifically about his whereabouts.
OANA LUNGESCU: Reuters.
Q:Yes, David Brunnstrom from Reuters. Colonel, I understand that you don't have specific
information, but what would be your best guess as to Qadhafi's whereabouts? And I notice
that the commander of the operation was quoted in the Canadian Press last week as saying
that Qadhafi... I mean, NATO was aware that Qadhafi was in Tripoli and moving around in
tunnels to and from his compound in the Rixos Hotel. At what point did your intelligence
let you down and you lose contact with him?
COLONEL ROLAND LAVOIE: Thanks David. We receive intelligence confirming at various times in
the conflict Qadhafi was clearly within the country. But for a while he has not given
any sign of life and frankly like I don't have the information and if I would have I
may not be in a position to disclose it, so I'm sorry, but I have to disappoint you, I
don't have any more to say on that.
OANA LUNGESCU: AP.
Q:Oana, there's... as you know, there's a major Taliban attack going on in the heart
of Kabul today and I'm just reading the strats report here saying that it's unique in the
sense that the militants have demonstrated the capability to hit at the heart of the
western military and intelligence presence in Afghanistan.
In view of the series of high-profile Taliban attacks recently do you think... I mean, it
seems that the Libya operation has really distracted NATO from Afghanistan. Would that
be correct?
OANA LUNGESCU: No, that would not be correct. NATO is conducting several major operations.
The operation to protect the people of Libya and to enforce the United Nations mandate
with the No-Fly Zone and the arms embargo is one such operation and we've shown that
we can conduct that operation successfully and effectively together with our partners.
At the same time, Afghanistan remains the key operation for NATO and we continue to
remain committed to that operation. As you know we're following developments very closely.
We have full confidence in the Afghan Security Forces that they can deal with such attacks,
as they have in the past. We've seen the enemies of Afghanistan trying to test transition in
the past. They have not succeeded and they will not succeed. They will not derail transition
and they will not stop transition.
That process is already under way in seven provinces and districts that represent a quarter
of the population of Afghanistan. We expect the next stage of transition to get under
way soon and to be just as significant.
Clearly the Taliban may be trying to gain media attention with such attacks, but the
reality on the ground is that the number of enemy-initiated attacks in Kabul and across
Afghanistan, is actually down on last year. So the trend of violence in Afghanistan is
down, not up. And what is also very clear, is that vast parts of the population have
rejected the Taliban and continue to reject the Taliban.
In the last minutes ISAF in Kabul has issued a news release and I will read it to you.
A small group of insurgents attacked the vicinity of the U.S. embassy and International Security
Assistance Force Afghanistan Headquarters today firing from outside the compound using
small arts and rocket-propelled grenades. The attack started around 1:30 p.m. local.
Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces immediately responded to the attack
and are still on the scene. Coalition forces are providing air support. There are no reports
of ISAF casualties at this time.
So for any other operational details I will refer you to our colleagues in Kabul.
We can go now to Naples for the next questions and then we'll return to Brussels. Roland.
Q:Yes, Maria (inaudible...), freelance journalist, Italy. I have a question for Mrs. Lungescu
and a question for Mr. Lavoie. The first question is... the first question is, coming back to
the beginning, as you quote the beginning of the operations and the reason of this war,
is NATO aware of the fact that this war is based on a major lie, the 10,000 people who
were supposed to be killed by Qadhafi forces at the beginning of the protest, but in fact,
even the ICC, the International Criminal Court, in its warrant, speaks about 200 people and
Amnesty International speaks about 200 victims on both sides, so Qadhafi's side and the other
side, so is NATO aware that this war to protect civilians started from a huge, huge media
lie? This is the first question.
The second question is for Mr. Lavoie. NATO is not supposed to take sides but it seems
that really you take sides. It's... it's in the fact and it is in your words. For instance,
when Misrata was under siege and the civilians were trapped into fighting, and the Libyan
army was around Misrata NATO bombed heavily Libyan forces.
This time there are many towns, Sabha, I have some friends from African countries who are
trapped there, and not because of the Libyan army, Sabha, Bani Wallid and Sirte, they are
under siege, but the siege is made by Abdel Jalil forces. So why NATO is not trying to
protect those civilians who cannot go out? It's the same situation than Misrata. And
also why NATO did nothing to protect the black migrants and the black Libyans who were killed
by the so-called rebel forces when they enter Tripoli and other cities? They are civilians
too I guess.
OANA LUNGESCU: Thank you for those questions. A quick answer from me. NATO is not involved
in a war in Libya. NATO is enforcing a United Nations mandate to protect civilians, to enforce
the No-Fly Zone and the arms embargo under two very clear and strong United Nations Security
Council Resolutions, 1970 and 1973. And I think those resolutions speak for themselves.
Roland.
COLONEL ROLAND LAVOIE: Thank you. Similarly... and thank you for the opportunity to clarify
something here. I know there's several calls at all ends of the ideological spectrum calling
for NATO to take sides in this conflict. I will tell you and reaffirm clearly, if there's
one side and the only side we will take is the one of the Libyan people. Our mandate
is not to provide close-air support for the anti-Qadhafi forces or to wage a war against
pro-Qadhafi forces. Our mandate is to protect the civilian population. And this is what
we are doing.
And one aspect that maybe gets a bit less attention in this mission is that beside the
strike missions that for obvious reason attack... sorry, attract, a lot of attention, we are
constantly patrolling the skies and providing a presence that very often deters attacks
from happening.
We are patrolling also the waters to prevent weapons from coming in. We have 24/7 operations
both at sea and in the air to monitor and to track whatever threat could be identified
against the civilian population.
So this is what we are after. As I mentioned earlier, we're not after Qadhafi. We are aiming
at protecting the civilian population and this is not a NATO venture. This is a venture
of the international community that through the United Nations decided to vote two resolutions,
calling upon nations of the planet to unite, nations that were like-minded to help the
civilian population and NATO responded, and not only NATO, but also partner countries,
to make a difference. And this is what we're doing.
OANA LUNGESCU: Roland, are there any more questions in Naples? I take it we'll go back
to Brussels where we still have quite a few questions. We had the Belgian News Agency
here.
Q:Oui, Gérard Gaudin de Belga. Je sais que l'exercice est un petit peu difficile. Vous
n'avez pas de topo sur... etc. Mais est-ce qu'on a une idée du pourcentage à peu près
du territoire qui est soit aux mains encore des pro-Qadhafi, soit aux mains du Conseil
national de transition ou qui est partagé?
Q:And also there are... there are soldiers and advisors from many countries, from many
NATO countries and Qatar, in Libya, so is it not a big contradiction?
COLONEL ROLAND LAVOIE: Brussels is on line. I'll get to your question after.
OANA LUNGESCU: Obviously we've had some technical problems. I don't know if you managed to hear
the question from our colleague, from the Belgium Press Agency. If not, he will repeat
it, if that's okay.
COLONEL ROLAND LAVOIE: Sorry about that, we had a technical problem.
Q:Oui... vous m'entendez?
COLONEL ROLAND LAVOIE: Oui.
Q:Et donc, Gérald Gaudin de Belga. Je sais que l'exercice est un petit peu difficile,
n'ayant pas de forces au sol. Mais avec les moyens de renseignement, d'intelligence dont
vous disposez, est-ce que vous avez une idée du pourcentage du territoire qui est encore
aux mains des pro-Qadhafi, déjà aux mains du Conseil national de transition ou qui est
disputé?
COLONEL ROLAND LAVOIE: En terme de pourcentage, ce que je vous inviterais à faire c'est regarder
la carte. Si vous faite un triangle reliant Bani Walid et Sirte et prenez Sheba comme
point sud, ça vous donne en fait un triangle où en fait les forces qadhafistes ont été
observées et où elles ont opéré.
Ceci dit, comme j'ai mentionné dans mon exposé, il y a quand même quelques éléments clés
de ce triangle-là qui ont été érodés au fil des derniers jours. Et donc, à l'heure
actuelle, il n'est plus évident que les qadhafistes aient nécessairement accès à l'axe Bani
Walid-Sirte à cause de la prise position entre les deux... entre les deux villes donc
ce qui représente une rupture significative de leur capacité. Même chose à Sheba où
à l'heure actuelle l'emprise des qadhafistes n'est plus assurée. C'est une ville qu'on
considère contestée, c'est-à-dire qu'il n'y a aucune force ni d'un côté, ni de l'autre
qui semble totalement la contrôler. Donc, en gros, ça représente une portion relativement
modeste du territoire et d'ailleurs une portion qui maintenant semble être contestée dans
deux de ses axes principaux.
Just for the benefit of the English-speaking people, I was asked about the area that was
controlled by Qadhafi and I basically said that if you do a triangle between Bani Walid
and Sirte going towards Sabha this is essentially the area where Qadhafi is operating, or has
been operating. What I wanted to stress, however, is that the latest advances of the NTC forces
over the last two days have basically interrupted to some extent the communications between
Bani Walid and Sirte.
So it means that the area that is controlled by Qadhafi along the shore is being seriously
contested. Similarl situation in Sabha. At this time we consider the city and its surroundings
as being contested because there's no clear indication that the entire region is under
the control of one or the other side. So essentially the area of operation of Qadhafi is shrinking
and is being contested in its main communication lines. Which from a military perspective this
means a lot because it prevents or inhibits Qadhafi's capability to pursue his aggressions.
OANA LUNGESCU: Thank you for providing the answers in both languages, Roland. That's
how effective OUP is. KUNA.
Q:Nawab Khan from the Kuwait News Agency, KUNA. Colonel, you said earlier in your statement
that the situation in Bani Walid and Sirte may change very rapidly. Are you suggesting
that these two towns may fall into the hands of NTC forces in a day or two? Thank you.
COLONEL ROLAND LAVOIE: What is difficult to predict here is that what will happen on the
ground is not necessarily dependent on NATO, but of the actions of the two main parties
there. So basically they are the main trigger.
What we do observe, however, is that the potential is there for very rapid change because there's
a significant concentration of forces on both sides that are in those areas. And we're not
talking about huge cities here, so if you look at what happened in other cities and
villages this could change, indeed, very rapidly. But I cannot predict when this will happen.
OANA LUNGESCU: AFP, over here.
Q:Oui, une question en français. Je voulais savoir. Avez-vous été surpris par la contre-offensive
sur Ras Lanuf hier? Et est-ce que vous êtes... vous avez estimé le nombre de combattants
pro-qadhafistes qui ont pris part à cette attaque? Et est-ce que l'OTAN participe aujourd'hui
à des opérations pour reprendre les lieux?
Et deuxièmement, est-ce que vous avez évalué le nombre de combattants pro-pales.... pro-Qadhafi
actifs dans le triangle dont vous avez parlé tout à l'heure?
COLONEL ROLAND LAVOIE: Donc, pour ce qui est de la situation à Ras Lanuf, la meilleure
façon de décrire cette situation-là, c'est de parler l'expression anglaise "un strike",
autrement dit d'une action ciblée dans le temps et dans l'espace. Autrement dit, ça
ne reflète pas un gain ou une avancée territoriale des forces qadhafistes. Donc, on parle ici
essentiellement d'une opération de style soit commando ou sabotage.
À l'heure actuelle, on n'a pas en main toutes les données pour savoir s'agit-il d'un déplacement
de troupe ou s'agit-il purement et simplement de forces ou de saboteurs qui étaient demeurés
sur place à Ras Lanuf.
Mais certainement, il n'y a pas de changement global dans les espaces contrôlés. Il s'agit
d'une opération essentiellement isolée. Donc, ça répond un peu aussi à la deuxième
question, à savoir qu'il n'y a pas nécessairement besoin d'opérations spécifiques pour répondre
à cette situation-là. Ceci dit, nous avons comme politique de ne jamais commenter les
opérations en cours.
Juste pour satisfaire moindrement votre curiosité, je me contenterai de dire que nous surveillons
de très près la situation, mais non seulement le long de la côte dont à Ras Lanuf; mais
dans le territoire complet.
Just for the benefit of the English-speaking listeners, I was asked about the situation
in Ras Lanuf. I described it as being a strike, meaning by that this does not represent any
significant shift in the positions controlled by the Qadhafi forces. This represents actions
made by a few individuals. At this stage it's not clear if those individuals are simply
saboteurs, or if they are from other regions, but it does not represent a shift in the territorial
base of the Qadhafi forces and I concluded by saying that, of course, we are continuing
our monitoring of the situation, not only on Ras Lanuf, but over the entire Libyan territory.
OANA LUNGESCU: I'll take the last two questions we had from Brussels. One over there.
Q:Sertaç Aktan, from IHA News Agency, Turkey. Would you have any evaluation from NATO's
side on the recent visits of Prime Minister Erdogan, Turkish Prime Minister to the region
including Libya? How do you see Turkey's influence on the region? Do you see it as an asset to
NATO? Thank you.
OANA LUNGESCU: I understand Prime Minister Erdogan will be in Libya later this week.
I think on Thursday. We can only welcome such visits. I know various allies have reopened
or are in the process of reopening their diplomatic missions on the ground, and I see this as
part of the wide and the broad trend of international recognition for the new Libya that's taken
the future in its own hands.
Last question here.
Q:(Inaudible...) du Quotidien d'Oran Algérie. Voilà, on parle ces derniers temps de beaucoup
membres de la direction ou des pro-Qadhafi qui sont partis vers le Niger, le Mali...
OANA LUNGESCU: Oui, on ne vous entend... on ne vous entend pas très bien.
Q:Là, vous m'entendez?
OANA LUNGESCU: Oui.
Q:On parle ces derniers temps de plusieurs membres de la famille de Qadhafi qui sont
partis en Algérie, au Niger. On parle du Mali. Bon, ce n'est pas très précis. Mais
on parle également d'un mouvement de troupes pro-Qadhafi bien armées et beaucoup d'armes
qui circulent, qui sont parties vers ces régions-là du Sahel. Et on parle même d'une jonction
avec les éléments d'al-Qaïda. Est-ce que cet aspect des choses...? Ma question est
la suivante. Est-ce que cet aspect des choses... cette prolifération des armes et cette jonction
éventuelle entre les partisans de Qadhafi et des terroristes d'al-Qaïda... est-ce que
cet aspect des choses est pris en charge par les politiques de l'OTAN? Et est-ce qu'il
y a une consultation ou des contacts avec les pays révérends du Sahel, c'est-à-dire
l'Algérie, le Mali, le Niger etc.? Voilà.
OANA LUNGESCU: Bon, ce sont des questions hypothétiques qui reposent surtout sur des
informations médiatiques. Je n'ai aucune confirmation de ces informations. Ce que je
peux vous dire en général, c'est qu'on est très encouragé par les déclarations de
la part du Conseil national de transition, de son président Moustapha Abdeljalil qui
a clairement parlé du fait que la nouvelle Libye ne va pas être extrémiste mais modérée.
Il a parlé de réconciliation, d'unité, de droits de l'homme, de l'homme de la démocratie.
Et on a bien vu la feuille de route déjà présentée par le Conseil national de transition
pour la transition démocratique de la Libye qui démontre très clairement le désir sincère
de démocratie de la NTC.
Pour ce qui est de la prolifération des armes, on continue à suivre ces aspects de très
près. C'est bien sûr toujours un aspect qui... qui peut causer des... des problèmes.
C'est de la responsabilité du Conseil national de transition d'assurer que cette transition
se fait de manière paisible et sans prolifération des armes.
Pour le moment, c'est la responsabilité du... des Nations-Unies d'aider le peuple libyen
dans cette transition qui bien sûr ne sera pas aisée. L'OTAN reste à la disposition
de l'ONU d'aider dans cette transition si on nous le demande.
Mais comme vous savez, nous n'avons pas de troupes sur le terrain, pas de forces sur
le terrain. Alors, ce n'est pas à nous de contrôler ce qui se passe avec les dépôts
d’armes. C'est surtout la responsabilité du Conseil national de transition, des nouvelles
autorités libyennes. Je ne sais pas si Roland a quelque chose à ajouter.
COLONEL ROLAND LAVOIE: Pas vraiment
OANA LUNGESCU: Voilà, merci beaucoup à tout le monde. Et la semaine prochaine, je serai
à New-York. Mais il y aura bien Carmen Romero et bien sûr Roland à Naples. À la prochaine.