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By Ned Simons - 18th March 2011
Britain will deploy RAF Tornados and Typhoons to enforce a UN backed no-fly zone over Libya, David Cameron has told the House of Commons.
The prime minister told MPs preparations for military intervention had already taken place and defence assets were to be moved to air bases from where they could start to take action.
"Britain will deploy Tornado and Typhoons and air-to-air refuelling and surveillance aircraft," he said.
The RAF is likely to be joined by aircraft from the United States, France and regional Arab states that supported calls for action against Gaddafi.
This afternoon the Libyan foreign minister unexpectedly announced a ceasefire and said there would be an "an immediate stop to all military operations".
In what is seen as a diplomatic coup for the prime minister the Security Council last night passed UN resolution 1973 which calls for "all necessary measures" to be used to protect civilians.
He told MPs today that the resolution was extremely strong and could signal "a new start in what the UN is able to achieve".
Colonel Gaddafi's forces have been closing in on the opposition stronghold of Benghazi and despite the strongly worded text from the UN it is now a race against time to see if Western and Arab countries can mobilise against him before he takes the city.
Cameron said that the three criteria necessary for military action, "demonstrable need, regional support and a clear legal basis" had now been met.
He said that the government had given "extremely careful thought" to committing British forces while the country was already engaged in operations in Afghanistan.
But he said Britain could not "stand back" and let Gaddafi crush opposition to his regime. To do so would send a "chilling signal" to other dictators in the region.
"We know what Gaddafi is capable of," he said. "We simply can not have a situation where a failed pariah state festers on Europe's southern border."
MPs will be given a chance to debate and vote on the intervention on Monday but the prime minister said the urgency of the situation meant action could not be delayed until after the weekend.
Cross-party support
Ed Miliband offered his support to Cameron and said the international community had shown "clear resolve".
"We will give our full support to our armed forces," he said. "Once again they are engaging in dangerous and courageous action on behalf of our country."
He added: "They are serving to uphold the will of the international community including the UN."
But the Labour leader did raise the question of what the end goal was. "We need to be clear about the purpose of this mission," he said.
Former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind, who has urged action against Gaddafi, said Cameron and foreign secretary William Hague had shown "superb leadership".
And the chairman of the Commons defence committee, James Arbuthnot, praised Cameron's "breathtaking degree of courage and leadership".
UN resolution 1973
Of the permanent members of the Security Council, Britain, France and the United states voted in favour of the resolution while Russia and China abstained.
Seven of the rotating members also voted in favour: Lebanon, South Africa, Bosnia, Colombia, Portugal, Nigeria and Gabon.
Brazil, India and Britain and France's EU partner Germany joined the Russians and Chinese in abstaining.
Reacting to the vote in New York, Britain's UN ambassador, Sir Mark Lyall Grant, said Gaddafi's regime had "lost all legitimacy" by using weapons of war against his people.
"It is now preparing for a violent assault of the city of one million people that has a history dating back 2,500 years.
He added: "The international community has come together in deploring the actions of the Gaddafi regime."
Gaddafi reacted to the prospect of military action against his regime by threatening to "get crazy".
"If the world gets crazy with us, we will get crazy too. We will respond," he said.
Enforcing the no-fly zone will be a big political test for David Cameron, as he has been one of its strongest advocates.
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