WEBVTT

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Good afternoon , Welcome back to NATO

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and welcome to everyone in Naples . We

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expect to welcome Lieutenant General

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Charles , Bouchard commando Operation

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Unified Protector in a few minutes . It

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is now 90 days since NATO launched

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operation unified protector under the

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mandate of the United Nations Security

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Council Resolution 1973 , that historic

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resolution mandates the use of all

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necessary means to protect civilians in

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Libya . The arrest warrants issued by

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the International Criminal Court

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yesterday for Gaddafi and his two

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closest aides on suspicion of crimes

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against humanity show exactly why that

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resolution was necessary , why NATO

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decided to act and why NATO will keep

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up the pressure until that mandate is

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fulfilled . The arrest warrants are yet

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another signal from the international

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community to the Gaddafi regime . Your

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place is on trial , not in power in

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Tripoli . It is not for NATO to enforce

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that warrant , that is for the

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appropriate authorities . Our mandate

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is to protect civilians from attack .

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The decision of all NATO allies and

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partners to extend our operation for

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another 90 days from today is a clear

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signal of that determination . Now ,

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this is the military track where NATO

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foreign ministers have set out three

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clear goals and then to all attacks

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against civilians , the withdrawal to

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their barracks and basis of all of

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Gadhafi's military and paramilitary

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forces and full and unimpeded

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humanitarian access . There is of

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course , the second parallel political

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track where the United Nations and the

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contact group are in the lead NATO is

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part of that broad international effort

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to reach a solution to the crisis . But

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we have made clear from the start that

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there is no purely military solution .

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It's the combination of our continued

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military pressure and a reinforced

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political pressure that will bring

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about the transition to democracy that

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the libyan people demand and deserve .

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And with that , I hand over to general

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bashar in Naples general the floor is

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yours course . Thank you very much .

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Wanna . Ladies and gentlemen welcome uh

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as wanna rightly mentioned , We are

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going through our 90th day of

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operations under the NATO mandate and

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progress has been significant

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throughout this campaign . As we take a

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look at it starting in the east ,

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Benghazi is now seeing signs of

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normalcy , diplomacy is taking place

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and the markets are reopened and we are

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moving towards a stable environment in

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the area of Ajdabiya . Just to the east ,

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approximately 80 km from uh the

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town of BRega is the town of Ajdabiya

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and that two continues to stabilize uh

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In the early days of this campaign , up

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to 70% of the population had left this

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uh this city . And today we estimate

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that around 70% of the population as we

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turn back to as to be a there remain a

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significant size force in the brig area

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under the regime control . And we

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maintain an eye on this , we have

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conducted some operations over the last

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few days and we continue our effort in

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this area to ensure that they will not

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advance and cause more harm to the

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population further to the west in the

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Misrata area , We have moved from the

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port , the population has been able to

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move forward from the port . And in

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fact , the line are now located around

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the Daphne area between Daphne and

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Clinton in the east and approximately

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50 km to the south . It's interesting

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to note that between Clinton and Dafna ,

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the regime forces have placed around

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300 civilians between the pro Kadhafi

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and anti-Gaddafi forces , further

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proving the point that the regime

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continues to use civilians to to shield

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themselves against any operations .

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This makes our mission uh more

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difficult , but certainly not

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impossible as we continue to attract

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the forces in the west , we're seeing

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uh very good successes uh from the

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anti Gadhafi forces . And we've seen

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that the violence in the tone of the

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Afrin and Zintan have stopped . There

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remains some activities in an absolute

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area , mainly indiscriminate shelling

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and will continue to hunt for those

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artillery pieces that are inflicting

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harm on the civilian population in

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Tripoli . The situation remains very

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tense . We have reports of the we have

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reports that the population has tried

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at some places to uh show some

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demonstrations against the regime . But

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these demonstrations have been very

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severely put down by a very oppressive

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security force and discontinues . And

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we have countries and we have continued

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reports that the population and

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casualties are being taken by regime

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forces , security forces who continue

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to inflict pain and harm on the

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population Overall , we've been able to

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restore normalcy in the east . We

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continue to support the Misrata area

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and in the west , we are seeing

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significant success in , uh , ensuring

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that pro Gadhafi forces do not bring

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harm to the population . I think at

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this stage , if I was to put plainly

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are successes in Libya , I think

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the next slide would give you an idea

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of what it is next life please .

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Okay . Yeah . Could I have to thank you .

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Slide , please . This . You

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will look on the , on the road itself ,

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there's a checkpoint on the left hand

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side of the slides and slightly to the

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right on the road are the latter . T N

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X . NATO . Thank you NATO . And this is

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the feedback we're receiving in another

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area of Libya . Next slide place .

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It can see clearly the message that we

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received the feedback . And finally ,

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this last one's on a rooftop with the

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words thank you are being written and

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this is the feedback we are receiving

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from the population and the

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appreciation of our work that we're

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doing . We remain committed to this

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mission and we continue our effort to

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ensure that the population will not

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suffer from the illegal activities and

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immoral activities of this regime . The

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international court decision yesterday ,

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uh , has been rightly pointed out only

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shows that will of the nations not to

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accept the kind of violence that this

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individual is causing and in his and

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his group is causing on the population .

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He has lost the moral authority to

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command his country . And we remain

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committed to bringing peace in Libya

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and to provide an environment where

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diplomacy can take place and the people

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of Libya can decide for themselves

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their future . Thank you very much .

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We'll go to questions . I think so .

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And we'll start in brussels if there

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are any questions here .

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Associated Press .

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Yeah . Uh , slow down . Like it's from

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the Associated Press General . Um ,

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since there is very little evidence

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that Gaddafi's forces have actually

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been committing crimes against

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civilians in recent weeks . Um , would

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it be appropriate for NATO to

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scale down its attacks or maybe suspend

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its attacks in order to give diplomacy

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a chance to perhaps resolve this

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conflict . First of all ,

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I I do not necessarily share your view

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that the violence has stopped against

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the population shelling in Misrata

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continued shelling and the loot

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continues and forces are continually

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being built up in the brig area , which

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shows a great potential for harm is to

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come to the population and based on

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this conclusion . No , I do not believe

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that any scaling down of operation is

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appropriate nor required at this time .

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In fact , we stayed . Of course , this

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is a campaign . This is a campaign that

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began very clearly to bring immediate

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stop in the east to stabilize Misrata

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and we are continuing our efforts at

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this time to ensure that all of love ,

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Libya , all of the people of Libya can

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live without the fear of harm from the

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regime forces .

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I think we can go over to you in Naples

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for any further questions . In response

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to the warrant , the Foreign Minister

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of Affairs of Libya left in his

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comments . Little space for cooperation .

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Do you think that this will modify the

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way that you will intervene in the

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future there in the country ? No , it

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will not . Our campaign stays the

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course until we have brought all

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violence or threat of violence against

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the population . Our directions

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following the Lisbon summits from NATO

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are very clear . The removal of all

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forces from built up areas , the

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cessation of all violence against the

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population and the allowance of the

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enabling of movement of humanitarian

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assistance . These are the objectives

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have been given to us by NATO and we

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will continue our mission without pause

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until we have reached those objectives .

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Thank you . Okay , thank you very much

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everyone and have a good day . Another

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question here in brussels , if you

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allow , he's going sorry about that .

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People are rather slow with their

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questions today , but today , but we do

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have bell gather Belgian news agency .

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Last question from the Belgian news

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agency . Yes , in your introduced to

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three statement , you seem to

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take site the

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side of the rebels saying that we

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have to

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stop the Gaddafi forces

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advancing and so on . So is that is

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that in the mandate that was given to

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you given to you ?

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Perhaps . perhaps my comments have been

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misunderstood . And let me make myself

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perfectly clear , the only people that

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are causing violence against the

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population are pro Kadhafi forces .

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These are the forces that we will bring

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to an end . Ours is not to support any

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uh anti Qaddafi advance , but rather to

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bring an end to the violence against

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the population . And that is what we're

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doing . Thank you very much . I have to

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go back so have a good day very much

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indeed . Thank you everyone in Naples

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and in brussels ,

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national community to the Gaddafi

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regime . Your place is on trial , not

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in power in our mandate is to protect

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civilians from attack . The decision of

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this is the military track where NATO

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foreign do not believe that any scaling

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down of operation is appropriate nor

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required at this time . In fact , we

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stayed . Of course , this is a campaign .

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The people of Libya can live without

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the fear of harm from the regime forces .

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I think we can go over to you . Perhaps ,

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perhaps my comments have been

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misunderstood and let me make myself

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perfectly clear . The only people