The European Union on Monday agreed new economic sanctions against Muamar Kaddafi's regime, targeting both individuals and economic entities.
But EU Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels appeared as divided as ever on the issue of military action against Libya with Germany, the EU’biggest member state insisting that its opposition against a military action was justified by Arab League criticism of this weekend’s Western air strikes.
Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa spoke Sunday after a coalition led by France, Britain and the United States started taking out Libyan air defence positions to enforce a United Nations Security Council resolution imposing a no-fly zone.
He said he was concerned about the bombing of targets in Libya, saying it could lead to civilian casualties. But Moussa clarified on Monday that he still respected the U.N. resolution authorizing military action on Libya.
Last week, Germany broke ranks with the United States, France and Britain, joining China, Russia, India and Brazil in abstaining during a United Nations Security Council vote that approved a no-fly zone over Libya.
"We decided not to participate with German soldiers, we calculated the risk and if we see that three days after this intervention began the Arab League already criticized this intervention, I think we had good reasons,'" German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in Brussels.
But the minister stressed that Germany strongly supports EU efforts to oust Kaddafi through economic and financial sanctions, saying that should be the focus of efforts to end his rule.
Poland and Malta also followed Germany"s example in refusing to take part in the military operation and Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told journalists his country wants to bring about a "national reconciliation" in Libya and that his government doesn't want the military action to go "at all beyond" what was agreed in the UN Security Council resolution.
Cypriot Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou warned that the international community must be "careful" not to take measures that will make an end to the fighting harder to achieve.
Several other European ministers on the contrary insisted that the so-called Operation Odyssey Dawn against the Kaddafi regime was fully in line with what the UN had authorized.
"There is a strict respect of the UN resolution because in the resolution it says no-fly zone and all measures for protecting the civilian population, so all measures also means to act in this way, military speaking," Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez said.
She said that Moussa was "a very reasonable man" and added: "we re trying to speak to him in order to explain exactly how the resolution is going on and how we are acting in this way, but I am sure that we will agree on everything because for us it is very important the support of the Arab League."
Her Finnish counterpart, Alexander Stubb, suggested that the extent of Arab League criticism had been exaggerated.
"Let's not make mountains out of molehills," he said.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton also minimized the rift, claiming that "Moussa was misquoted" and reminding that he took part in the Paris international summit on Saturday which decided the start of the military action.
"He was very clear in offering support on the basis of what was being proposed and is now being implemented,"' Ashton said.
At a press conference after Monday"s ministerial meeting, Ashton
stressed that the "EU”s main objective is the protection of the civilian population in Libya."
“Colonel Kaddafi has to relinquish power immediately,” she added.
She also said the EU views with concern events in Yemen, Bahrain and Syria were anti-government clashes took place.
Meanwhile, NATO ambassadors were set to debate later Monday also in Brussels whether the alliance should take over the command of the military intervention.
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said a decision on the structure of military command was needed 'very quickly.'
"It would be a very bad signal if it is the coalition now, and then if things turn bad we move over to NATO. We need to decide now who does what, because this game between the coalition and NATO is damaging to the entire international community," he said.
The major new EU sanctions against Libya decided Monday apply to 11 Kadhafi associates and nine economic entities and are expected to be enforced some time this week.
The entities were not named but sources said they were "investment companies, foundations, banks and state" groups. Oil and gas companies were not listed.
It was the third wave of restrictive EU measures slapped against Kaddafi amid increasing pressure on the Libyan leader to step down.
A fourth series of sanctions will also be discussed next week in Brussels, a diplomat said.
The first series of EU sanctions was an asset freeze and travel ban against 26 individuals deemed responsible for violent crackdowns on Libya's civilians.
They included Kaddafi as well as his seven sons and his daughter, along with his wife Safia al-Barassi.