A top adviser to French President Nicolas Sarkozy says allied military intervention in Libya is likely to last “a while” - while affirming that attacks by Moammar Qadhafi’s forces on civilians have all but stopped.
Mr. Sarkozy’s special adviser Henri Guaino cautions that the ultimate goal mandated by the U.N. Security Council of protecting civilians is not “totally achieved.”
Mr. Guaino told France’s BFM TV on Monday that armoured columns of Libyan government forces are no longer moving and most air defence batteries have been destroyed in the allied air campaign that began two days earlier.
France was the first country to give diplomatic recognition to Libya’s opposition and Mr. Sarkozy pushed hard for Arab world support for the no—fly zone authorized by the Security Council.
