ITALY: British Foreign Minister William Hague and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe speak about military situation in Libya

Record ID: 593292

  • Title: ITALY: British Foreign Minister William Hague and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe speak about military situation in Libya
  • Date: 6th May 2011
  • Summary: ROME, ITALY (MAY 5, 2011) (REUTERS) BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER WILLIAM HAGUE ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE HAGUE'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER WILLIAM HAGUE, SAYING: "I'm very pleased that there has been a great deal of discussion of intensifying the military, diplomatic and economic pressure on the Gaddafi regime, that is what the British government believes should happen and what I advocated in the contact group meeting. That means the tempo of the military activity to protect civilian life should continue to be increased, as it has been increased in recent days, against command and control systems." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER WILLIAM HAGUE, SAYING: "We are looking at how to tighten the economic pressure on the Gaddafi regime, including exploring action to prevent them from exporting crude oil or importing refined products that are used for non-humanitarian purposes. And so I'm confident after this meeting that the diplomatic, economic and military pressure will intensify, that time is not on the side of the Gaddafi regime and that this international coalition will continue to work very well together." VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER WILLIAM HAGUE, SAYING: "This is a situation in which, as I have already said, we've saved thousands of lives, we have averted a catastrophe for the entire situation in the Middle East, as well as the situation in Libya. So, yes, these things clearly take time but the resolve is there and the resolve was very clearly there in the meeting today. " HAGUE ADDRESSING REPORTERS HAGUE LEAVING MEDIA AROUND FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER ALAIN JUPPE (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER ALAIN JUPPE, SAYING: "'The temporary fund is well defined and should be operational within the coming weeks. The United States has announced its contribution and other countries as well, and France will also be examining its own contribution." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER ALAIN JUPPE, SAYING: "In the European Union, there exists the will to adopt sanctions quite rapidly. We are currently finalising the list of persons whose assets will be sanctioned and France wants (Syrian President) Bashar al-Assad to be on it." JUPPE SURROUNDED BY REPORTERS
  • Embargoed: 21st May 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy, Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAELG5BTFIBK9AVDENMTZ6ZAGR9
  • Story Text: Military action against Muammar Gaddafi should be intensified and a coalition ranged against him is looking at how to increase economic pressure on the Libyan leader, British Foreign Minister William Hague said on Thursday (May 5).
    "The tempo of the military action should continue to be increased as it has been increasing in recent days," Hague told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Rome of an international coalition against Gaddafi.
    But he said this action should not include arming rebels.
    "We are looking how to tighten the economic pressure on the Gaddafi regime including exploring action to prevent them from exporting crude oil or importing refined products that are used for non-humanitarian purposes," Hague said after the meeting.
    "These things clearly take time but the resolve is there and the resolve was very clearly there in the meeting today," he said.
    Speaking at the end of the meeting, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said the temporary fund set up to help the Libyan rebel council should be operational within the coming weeks, adding that Paris was evaluating its possible contribution.
    He said work needed to continue on freeing up Libyan assets held abroad, despite the legal problems in getting around hurdles set up to cut Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi off from foreign financing.
    Juppe also said that another international forum on Libya, the so-called "Friends of Libya" group mooted by French president Nicolas Sarkozy should be an expanded group including other countries such as Russia.
    France is working with its European Union partners on implementing sanctions against Syria but there is still no agreement on who should be on the list, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Thursday.
    "In the European Union, there exists the will to adopt sanctions quite rapidly," he told reporters after a meeting with international partners in the so-called Libya Contact group.
    Earlier U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini also discussed sanctions against the Syrian leadership because of its violent suppression of unrest in the country.
    "We are currently finalising the list of persons whose assets will be sanctioned and France wants (Syrian President) Bashar al-Assad to be on it," Juppe said.
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