PARIS/MISRATA, Libya (Reuters) - – France said on Wednesday it airlifted weapons to Libya's rebels this month, the first time that a NATO country bombing Libya has openly acknowledged arming rebels seeking to topple Muammar Gaddafi.
A three-month-old bombing campaign has so far failed to dislodge the Libyan leader, straining the Western alliance. The bombing is justified by a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing force to protect civilians, but Britain, France and the United States say they will not stop until Gaddafi falls.
The rebels' advances have been slow, although they say they have made considerable progress in the past week on the front nearest Tripoli. On Sunday rebels advanced from the mountains southwest of the capital to 80 km (50 miles) from the capital.
A French military spokesman confirmed the delivery of weapons after Le Figaro newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying France had parachuted rocket launchers, assault rifles, machine guns and anti-tank missiles into the western mountains.
"There were humanitarian drops because the humanitarian situation was worsening and at one point it seemed the security situation was threatening civilians who could not defend themselves," armed forces spokesman Thierry Burkhard said.
"France therefore also sent equipment allowing them to defend themselves, comprising light weapons and munitions," he said, adding that the drop also included medicine and food.
The legality of the move could be called into question because of a U.N. arms embargo. U.N. diplomats have said any arms transfers without the prior consent of the U.N. Security Council's Libya sanctions committee could violate the embargo.
A U.N. diplomat familiar with the committee said France had not sought its permission to send arms. Countries have suggested the Security Council's permission to "take any action" to protect civilians might allow shipments of weapons for defense.
Le Figaro said France's decision to send arms had been taken without consulting NATO partners. It quoted a high-level source saying "there was no other way to proceed."
A rebel spokesman in the Western Mountains contacted by Reuters said he did not have an information about the French arms. France's allies reacted cautiously.
"We as NATO are not engaged in this kind of activity, although it is also well known that there are nations that are doing this so it is not up to me to comment or judge," Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, head of NATO's military committee, told reporters in Brussels.
Britain, alongside France one of the most active members of the coalition behind the bombing, acknowledged the French move raised questions in the light of the U.N. mandate.
"It does raise quite a few issues, not least the United Nations resolution, although in some circumstances clearly that could be justified," British Minister for International Security Gerald Howarth told reporters.
"But it is very much a matter for France and no criticism of France (is) intended therein. But it's not something we shall be doing," added Howarth. Britain has given the rebels items such as body armor while stressing such aid was "non-lethal."
At an Africa Union summit in Equatorial Guinea, AU Commission chief Jean Ping said arms going into Libya could end up in the hands of al Qaeda allies in the region.
"Africa's concern is that weapons that are delivered to one side or another ... are already in the desert and will arm terrorists and fuel trafficking," Ping told reporters.
"A LITTLE BIT NAIVE"
As the NATO operation extends beyond 90 days, fissures have appeared in the coalition against Gaddafi, with Italy calling for a suspension to the bombing and U.S. officials complaining about the lack of European firepower.
U.S. President Barack Obama, who has come under fire for not seeking approval from Congress for the mission, said he had carried it out in "exemplary fashion." His administration has argued that the U.S. role in the operation does not rise to the level of "hostilities" requiring congressional approval.
"We have engaged in a limited operation to help a lot of people against one of the worst tyrants in the world," he told a news conference. "A lot of this fuss is politics."
The Dutch defense minister warned NATO allies on Wednesday against "mission creep" and forecast more arguments about the future of its campaign if it lasted beyond September.
"Libya is a very, very big country indeed. People who thought that merely by throwing some bombs it would not only help the people, but also convince Gaddafi that he could step down or alter his policy, were a little bit naive," he said.
NATO warships off the Libyan coast fired on government forces near the strategic town of Zlitan east of Tripoli, rebels said on Wednesday. Gaddafi's forces have so far successfully blocked the rebels at Zlitan, preventing them from advancing on Tripoli from the east.
"Last night, NATO struck from the sea at Gaddafi's forces positioned in the coastal area," a rebel spokesman inside Zlitan, who identified himself as Mabrouk, told Reuters.
"The (pro-Gaddafi) brigades are preparing for the next days. They have stepped up deployment here. They have brought several rocket-launchers. The number of checkpoints is also growing. The situation is getting more difficult."
CONTRACTS REVIEW?
There was no immediate confirmation from NATO that its warships had been in action off the town. Zlitan is about 140 km (90 miles) east of Tripoli and lies between the capital and the rebel-held city of Misrata.
Libyan state television said 15 people were killed when NATO air strikes hit a vegetable market on Tuesday in the town of Tawergha, south of Misrata, and accused the alliance of hitting civilian targets again on Wednesday.
A NATO spokesman said the alliance had hit "a military facility with military vehicles inside" in the Tawergha area on Wednesday. The alliance was unable to confirm reports of civilian casualties but was looking into them.
Gaddafi's government says NATO bombing has killed more than 700 civilians, although it has not presented evidence of such large numbers of civilian deaths and NATO denies them.
An official with the rebel leadership said if it came to power it would review all contracts signed under Gaddafi. Mahmoud Shammam, a spokesman for the rebel National Transitional Council, told reporters in Paris the council would nullify contracts if it discovered evidence of corruption.
Gaddafi's officials say the NATO campaign is an act of colonial aggression aimed at stealing Libya's oil. They also dismiss International Criminal Court arrest warrants against Gaddafi and his son for crimes against humanity, saying the court is a tool of the West.
(Additional reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers; Lutfi Abu-Aun in Tripoli; John Irish and Elizabeth Pineau in Paris, David Brunnstrom in Brussels; Anis Mili in Arrujban, Libya; Keith Weir in London; Joseph Nasr in Berlin; Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations and David Lewis in Malabo; Writing by Mark John; Editing by Peter Graff)
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