Italy said it would support an immediate suspension of hostilities in Libya yesterday to allow aid into vulnerable areas including Tripoli in the latest sign of dissent within Nato over the conflict.
“We have seen the effects of the crisis and therefore also of Nato action not only in eastern and southwestern regions but also in Tripoli,” Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told a Parliamentary committee meeting.
“I believe... an immediate humanitarian suspension of hostilities is required in order to create effective humanitarian corridors,” while negotiations should continue on a formal ceasefire and peace talks, he said.
Mr Frattini warned of “extremely grave humanitarian needs in many parts of the country” including in western Libya, and said he hoped a pause in the fighting would be “indicated as a feasible solution” by international organisations.
“I think it is legitimate to request ever more detailed information on the results” of the Nato mission, he added, condemning “the dramatic errors that hit civilians, which is clearly not an objective of the Nato mission.”
Foreign ministry spokesman Maurizio Massari later explained that the minister’s support for a suspension of hostilities was “a working hypothesis.”
“It’s not our proposal. If international organisations were to make an appeal or a proposal on this then we would consider it,” he said.
Britain and France immediately ruled out any pause in the campaign, which began in March, while Nato said it would continue with air strikes.
“If we stop, countless more civilians could lose their lives,” Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a video statement on the Nato website.
French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero told reporters: “We must intensify the pressure on Colonel Gaddafi.
“In the end, it would be the civilian population that would suffer from the smallest sign of weakness on our behalf,” he said.
Despite repeated calls for unity within Nato, strains have begun to show in the alliance and Norway’s recent decision to withdraw from operations sparked fears that others may follow.
“The alliance is coming unstuck,” Natalino Ronzitti from the Rome-based International Affairs Institute, said.
“There’s an air of dissent from some members,” he said.
As Nato admitted to bombing errors in recent days, Italy – Libya’s former colonial master and a cautious but important partner in the Libyan mission from the beginning – said the alliance’s credibility was at risk.