India backs UN sanctions on Gaddafi’s Libya

NEW DELHI: Having flown back more than 530 nationals from Libya, India has backed the United Nations Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on the strife-torn country where leader Muammar Gaddafi has unleashed terror to curb protests.

Protesters took control of Zawiyah, just 50km from Tripoli , and reinforced the boundary with barricades. In Benghazi , anti-Gaddafi agitators said a National Libyan Council had been formed and ruled out negotiation with the regime .

Gaddafi has responded by distributing arms to civilians , setting the stage for violent street clashes.

Voting 15-0 in favour of the resolution imposing a comprehensive arms embargo, travel ban and freezing of assets of the Gaddafi regime on Saturday, the UNSC referred the situation to the International Criminal Court.

India supported the decision to refer the matter to the Hague court, of which it is not a member, though it said it would have preferred a “calibrated and gradual” approach . “We, however, note that several members of the Council , including our colleagues from Africa and the Middle East, believe that such a referral would have the effect of immediate cessation of violence and restoration of calm and stability,” said Hardeep Puri, India’s permanent representative to the UN.

A letter from the permanent representative of Libya on Saturday too called for such areferral, Puri said. “We have, therefore, gone along with the consensus in the Council. We deplore the use of force, which is totally unacceptable.”