Ankara: The United States is considering a no-fly zone in Syria, potentially its first direct intervention into the two-year-old civil war, Western diplomats said on Friday, after the White House said Syria had crossed a "red line" by using nerve gas.
After months of deliberation, President Barack Obama's administration said on Thursday it would now arm rebels, having obtained proof the Syrian government used chemical weapons against fighters trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
Two senior Western diplomats said Washington is looking into a limited no-fly zone close to Syria's southern border with Jordan.
"Washington is considering a no-fly zone to help Assad's opponents," one diplomat said....
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06:36 AM, Jun 15, 2013
Tripoli: Libya's army chief of staff resigned on Sunday as an elite military unit took control of a base of pro-government militias after clashes killed 31 people in the eastern city of Benghazi. The developments underlined the security chaos in Libya more than a year and a half after longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi was deposed in a civil war. The violence broke out on Saturday when protesters stormed a base...
11:20 PM, Jun 09, 2013
Ivory Coast beat Gambia 3-0 in World Cup qualifying on Saturday, while Ethiopia and Zambia gained crucial victories that put South Africa and Ghana at risk of missing out on football's top tournament. Lacina Traore, Wilfried Bony and Yaya Toure scored in Gambia for the Ivorians, keeping Africa's top-ranked team in control of Group C and on course for a place in the decisive five final playoffs as one of...
09:24 AM, Jun 09, 2013
Washington: Defying Republican critics, President Barack Obama named outspoken diplomat Susan Rice as his national security adviser on Wednesday, giving her a larger voice in US foreign policy despite accusations that she misled the nation in the aftermath of the deadly attack on Americans in Benghazi, Libya. The appointment, along with the nomination of human rights advocate Samantha Power to replace Rice as US ambassador to the United Nations, signals...
03:26 AM, Jun 06, 2013
Tripoli: Libya's legislative assembly gathered on Sunday to vote on a law banning officials who worked for Muammar Gaddafi from the new administration, a step that could potentially force out the prime minister and other senior officials. The wording has been wrangled over for months and Sunday's vote has been prompted by the actions of heavily armed groups who have taken control of two government ministries and say they will...
12:47 AM, May 06, 2013
Tripoli: French embassy in Libya was hit by what appeared to be a car bomb on Tuesday, injuring two guards in the first such attack in the capital Tripoli since the end of the 2011 war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi. Residents living near the embassy compound, in the capital's Hay Andalus area, said they heard two blasts early in the morning around 7 am (0500 GMT). "We think it was...
12:55 PM, Apr 23, 2013
Tripoli: World soccer's governing body FIFA has lifted a ban on Libya hosting soccer matches, the Libyan Football Federation said, despite the North African country still facing precarious security after the 2011 war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi. FIFA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The move comes after a decision last month by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to again allow continental club competition matches to be...
06:05 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Tripoli: A security official says the leader of an Islamic extremist militia in Libya suspected of involvement in an attack in Benghazi that killed the US ambassador has been shot. Sufyan bin Qumu, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, was shot on Sunday in the area of al-Thruwn in the eastern city of Darna, a stronghold of Islamic extremists. The security official says he was taken to a nearby hospital and...
08:43 AM, Apr 15, 2013
Syria's civil war is pushing more people than ever to flee the country. Over the past few months, the exodus has accelerated and now the UN is reporting a dramatic milestone. The number of refugees from the conflict has passed the one-million mark. ...
10:05 AM, Mar 07, 2013
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton choked up on Wednesday as she defended her handling of the September 11 attack on the US mission in the Libyan city of Benghazi, an event that threatens to stain her legacy and any presidential hopes she may still harbor. ...
09:36 PM, Jan 23, 2013
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to testify before Congress on the attack on their consulate in Benghazi, Libya which left its ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans dead on September 11, 2012. She is also expected to appear before the House foreign affairs committee on January 23. ...
07:30 AM, Jan 16, 2013
Libya has said that Saif al-Islam, the son of late leader Muammar Gaddafi whose regime was overthrown in 2011 by opposition forces with NATO's assistance, will go on trial in February. ...
06:03 PM, Jan 05, 2013
The State Department made a "grievous mistake" in keeping the US mission in Benghazi open despite inadequate security and increasingly alarming threat assessments in the weeks before a deadly attack by militants, a Senate committee said on December 31. A report from the Senate Homeland Security Committee on the September 11 attacks on the US mission and a nearby CIA annex, in which the US ambassador to Libya and three...
11:50 AM, Jan 01, 2013
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will testify before a key Congressional committee on the deadly attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi in which the US Ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed. ...
10:36 AM, Dec 08, 2012
United Nations: India was among the 39 countries that voted against a UN General Assembly draft resolution which called for abolishing the death penalty, saying every nation had the "sovereign right" to determine its own legal system. The non-binding resolution called for a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty. It was adopted on Monday at the General Assembly's Third Committee, which deals with social and...
07:14 PM, Nov 20, 2012
On the anniversary of the capture and killing of Moammar Gaddafi, Libya is still grappling with the legacy of his four decades of rule. ...
09:59 AM, Oct 21, 2012
Tripoli: On the anniversary of the capture and killing of Moammar Gaddafi, Libya is still grappling with the legacy of his four decades of rule as the interim government and the dictator's former spokesman engaged in a war of words amid the ongoing chaos. The Libyan government said Saturday its forces had detained Gaddafi's high profile spokesman Moussa Ibrahim, but an online recording from a man purporting to be Ibrahim...
09:10 AM, Oct 21, 2012
Sometimes, turning full circle takes no time. Eighteen months after NATO forces bombed Qadhafi's Libya citing their responsibility to protect the citizens of Benghazi, U.S. ...
12:29 PM, Sep 26, 2012
Libya: An Islamist militia was driven out of the city of Benghazi early on Saturday in a surge of protest against the armed groups that control large parts of Libya more than a year after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. A spokesman for Ansar al-Sharia said the group had evacuated its bases in Benghazi "to preserve security in the city". In a dramatic sign of Libya's fragility, after sweeping through...
08:59 PM, Sep 22, 2012
Washington: US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says it was a "terrorist attack" that killed the American ambassador to Libya and three others, and she says the US will not rest until those responsible are brought to justice. Clinton told reporters on Friday at the State Department that, quote, "what happened in Benghazi was a terrorist attack." And she said the US would track down, quote, the "terrorists who...
10:45 AM, Sep 22, 2012
