WEBVTT

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in a particularly complex and fluid

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battle scenario . These vehicles were

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assessed as a threat to civilians and

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were engaged by NATO aircraft .

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NATO subsequently confirmed that the

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vehicles were hit that were hit were

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part of an opposition patrol . We

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regret any injuries caused by this

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unfortunate incident . That's the first

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incident and was on Friday 17 June .

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The second incident on sunday morning

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involved a weapon malfunction which

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reportedly caused civilian casualties .

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On Sunday morning , 19 June , we

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targeted a military missile site in

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Tripoli with a number of precision

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guided weapons . Our review of the

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strike had indicated that during the

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course of the air strike on the missile

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site , a potential weapons system

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failure occurred and this caused the

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weapon not to hit the intended target

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and reportedly resulted in a number of

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civilian casualties . We can still not

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confirmed that the site where our

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weapon landed was in fact the site that

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was shown on the media , but the site

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is very likely to be that failed weapon

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and is likely to have been caused by

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that weapons malfunction . NATO

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regrets the loss of innocent civilians

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and we continue to take great care in

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planning and conducting our air strikes .

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The third incident is the NATO strike

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yesterday on June 20 on a commander

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control node in Sinmun , which is west

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of Tripoli . In the early hours of

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monday morning , NATO carried out a

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precision strike using precision guided

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weapons on a highly significant

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commander control node in the Simone

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area near Zawiya . The

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facility was directly involved in

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coordinating systematic attacks on the

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Libyan people and was identified

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through rigorous analysis based on

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persistent intelligence , surveillance ,

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reconnaissance and this was carried out

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over a prolonged period of time . NATO

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is aware of allegations that this

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strike caused casualties . That is

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something we cannot independently

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verify . But I say again , this was a

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legitimate military target . A high

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value command and control node used to

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coordinate attacks against civilians .

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We observed the sight over a prolonged

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period of time before conducting the

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precision strike , which minimized any

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potential risk of causing unnecessary

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casualties . Slide please ,

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Okay , this slide shows the area where

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we were taking this commander control

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strike on the left hand side . You can

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see in amongst what looks like the

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trees , the rubble of a Commander

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control center to the right and to the

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top , you can see a very significant

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large mosque just south of that mosque .

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There is an area where you can see a

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aerial tower and that was the

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communications facility built and

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placed directly next to a mosque just

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south of that . You can see the school ,

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this is a local school for Children

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right in amongst this area .

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The target that we hit was a commander

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control node . This picture clearly

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shows a building on top of that

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building , which you saw in the

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previous slide are a number of white

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dots . Those 17 dots are

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satellite dishes , some of which are

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approximately three m wide . I ask how

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many buildings require 17 satellite

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dishes . If they're not a commander

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control communications facility . This

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slide shows that same area after NATO

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strikes , It is no longer a command and

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control center . Okay . Following

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our strike on the communications

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facility right next to the aerial you

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can see there was no damage caused

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anywhere near the mosque . All the

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schools , precision guided weapons were

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used to take out a command and control

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node , a high value target which needed

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to be removed from the battle space .

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NATO use precision weapons to carry out

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this strike . I'd like to go back to

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this slide so you can see in

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perspective the mosque is to the right ,

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just below is the communications

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facility to the left and in amongst

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what looks like the trees are the

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commander control nodes which were

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removed by NATO strikes . Okay , I

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hope that clarifies the three separate

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incidents . One was a very unfortunate

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strike , which we refer to as blue on

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green . The next was a situation

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where a missile or weapon had a weapon

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system failure . The third was a clear

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strike by NATO on a Commander control

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center . Finally , I have news on some

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reports received this morning at 7 20

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zulu hours or Greenwich mean time NATO

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received reports that an unmanned

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autonomous helicopter drone used by

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NATO forces lost radar contact with the

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command center . This drone helicopter

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unmanned was performing intelligence

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surveillance and reconnaissance over

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Libya to monitor pro Gaddafi forces

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threatening the civilian population .

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We are currently looking into the

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reasons behind this incident . What I

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can say is NATO confirms that has not

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lost any attack helicopters during

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Operation Unified Protector . More

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information will be provided on this

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incident . As it becomes available .

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NATO forces continue to use all

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necessary measures to protect civilians .

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These measures include the use of

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attack helicopters and precision guided

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weapons launched from fighter aircraft .

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And we continue to use information ,

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surveillance , reconnaissance or

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intelligence surveillance

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reconnaissance drones to get to build

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up our knowledge base along with all

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other information sources available to

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us to fuse them . For the commanders

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use , We have flown nearly 12,000

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sorties of which 4.5 1000 of strike

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sorties with bombs hitting their

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intended targets with a very high

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degree of accuracy . The skies over

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Libya are well protected and the no fly

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zone is being enforced in some

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NATO is committed to its mandate to

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protect the civilian population of

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Libya . We will continue to enforce the

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arms embargoes . We will continue to

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enforce the no fly zone . NATO will

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continue to legitimately strike targets

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for maximum military effect , including

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commander control nodes , military

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equipment and ammunition storage sites .

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We will stay the course and we will

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continue with the mission until Gaddafi

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regime verifiably ends the violence and

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opposition against the people of Libya .

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Thank you very much