BELGIUM: NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen condemns car bomb attack on French embassy in Tripoli

Record ID: 863094

  • Title: BELGIUM: NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen condemns car bomb attack on French embassy in Tripoli
  • Date: 23rd April 2013
  • Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (APRIL 23, 2013) (REUTERS) JOURNALISTS HAND MAKING NOTES
  • Embargoed: 8th May 2013 13:00
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  • Location: Belgium
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  • Country: Belgium
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  • Reuters ID: LVABU4IMA2W7O3ZNNWY3K194E7V3
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  • Story Text: NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Tuesday (April 23) condemned the attack on the French embassy in Tripoli.
    France's embassy in Libya was hit by a car bomb earlier in the day, injuring two French guards and bringing violence to the capital after attacks on foreign missions in the east.

    "I strongly condemn the attack against the French embassy in Tripoli. I express my deepest sympathy with all those injured and my full solidarity with France," Rasmussen told a news conference following NATO-Russia talks.
    The Alliance's chief said that Russia and the 28-member bloc discussed a host of international security issues, including cooperation to ensure long-term peace and stability in Afghanistan.
    Russia and NATO remain however at odds over U.S. plans for an anti-missile shield in Europe.
    Rasmussen said that, despite disagreements, the goal is to unite forces and work towards strengthened security.

    "One area where we have maintained an active dialogue but made limited progress remains missile defence. It's important that we keep working on this. We have the opportunity to re-energize our dialogue and we should use it," he said.
    Moscow says a missile defence system the United States is deploying in Europe together with NATO, mainly to combat a potential threats from Iran may undermine Russia's security and upset the post-Cold War balance of power.
    The Pentagon said last month it would station additional missile interceptors in Alaska in response to North Korean threats and at the same time forgo a new type of interceptor that would have been deployed in Europe as part of the shield.
    Rasmussen also announced that NATO foreign ministers had jointly condemned North Korea's pursuit of ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs and called for "credible" talks to be held on denuclearisation.

    "NATO foreign ministers agreed a statement on North Korea, which I expect you have already seen. We condemn in the strongest possible terms North Korea's continued development of ballistic missile and nuclear weapons and its recent inflammatory threatening rhetoric."
    North Korea insisted on Tuesday that it be recognized as a nuclear weapons state, a demand the United States promptly dismissed as "neither realistic nor acceptable".
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