Russia, Saudi Arabia warn against Libya intervention

Russia, Saudi Arabia warn against Libya intervention

2011-03-04 04:11:51 GMT+7 (ICT)

MOSCOW (BNO NEWS) -- Russia and Saudi Arabia on Thursday warned against foreign political or military intervention in Libya, which could make the situation worse, Russia's Foreign Ministry said.

Earlier in the day, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov, who is also presidential envoy on the Middle East, and Ali ben Hasan Jaafar, the Saudi ambassador to Moscow, discussed the situation in the Middle East, RIA Novosti reported.

Other countries, including Iran and Afghanistan, have also warned against international military intervention. Last week, U.S. President Barack Obama said that his government was preparing a full range of options to respond to Libya's crisis, including coordinating with allies and partners as well as with multilateral institutions.

Meanwhile, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in a meeting with Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu described the situation in Libya as moving toward the civil war, RIA Novosti reported.

"Libya has been and is on the brink of a civil war, and our task was to save the lives of our citizens [there]," Medvedev said.

"A complete disintegration in state governance usually occurs during such events, which is what we have seen in Libya," he added.

Russia completed on Wednesday the evacuation of its citizens from the North African country. The Russian Embassy in Tripoli reported earlier on Thursday that Russia had evacuated 520 Russians and 593 foreign nationals from Libya.

On Tuesday, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to suspend Libya's membership of the UN Human Rights Council because of Muammar al-Gaddafi's violence against demonstrators. The International Criminal Court in The Hague on Thursday opened a probe into the role of Gaddafi and his top aides in atrocities allegedly committed in the crackdown on protesters.

Libya has been plunged into chaos as massive anti-government protests continue nationwide, resulting in a violent crackdown by security forces which included aerial bombardments on protesters. At least 2,000 people are believed to have been killed in the uprising, but confirmed information has been difficult to obtain due to reporting restrictions by Libyan authorities.

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