Amr Moussa: Western Countries Betrayed Arab Mandate to Security Council on Libya Civilian Protection

In this seventh and final episode of excerpts from the new book of former Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, “The Years of the Arab League,” which will soon be published by Dar Al-Shorouk, we continue Moussa’s narration of the events of the Libyan revolution that erupted in February 2011, for which two chapters are devoted.

This episode focuses on the Arab mandate to protect Libyan civilians. Moussa recounts how the Arabs were deceived by a number of Western countries.

He explains that he told all parties in Paris that the Security Council resolution aimed to protect Libyan civilians, not to invade or occupy Libya, and that he condemned the coalition attack on Libyan targets, saying: “Instead of protecting civilians, it caused victims.”

Concerns that some forces will exploit the air embargo on Libya topped discussions during the emergency meeting of the Council of Arab Foreign Ministers on March 12, 2011, Moussa says.

“Whoever reviews the text of Paragraph 1 after the preamble in the decision issued by that meeting will find it stating: To request the Security Council to assume its responsibilities regarding the deteriorating situation in Libya, to take measures to impose an immediate no-fly zone on the movement of Libyan military aircrafts, and to establish safe areas in places subjected to bombing, as preventive measures that allow protection for the Libyan people and residents of Libya of various nationalities, with taking into account the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the neighboring countries.”

Moussa adds that no Arab country objected to the expression, “as a preventive measure.”

“I said that this expression would control the wording and reassure public opinion. We are not only dealing with the Security Council or with the Libyan authorities, but with the public opinion as well; so matters must be clear.”

He continues: “We explained this Arab concept of a flight ban on Libya to the Security Council and the Western powers, who stressed their understanding of it. But the truth is that we were deceived… As soon as the decision was issued, they hit sites in Libya, which led to casualties among civilians. They targeted the country’s air defense systems, which also provoked Russia, as the systems were Russian. The Russians in general had significant objections to hitting ground targets in Libya.”

Moussa notes that it later became clear that the US had a list of Libyan targets that it insisted on striking. The US considered the air embargo to be a symbolic step, and that UN support for more robust military action should be provided if necessary.

Security Council Resolution 1973

Moussa recounts that in response to the ongoing threats against civilians committed by Moammar Gaddafi, the Security Council convened to discuss a draft resolution submitted by Britain, France, Lebanon (the Council’s Arab member) and the US to impose a no-fly zone on Libyan territory to protect civilians. The first session was held on March 15, followed by another the next day.

“But due to a split in the Council on the draft, both sessions ended with no agreement,” he says.

Finally, the Security Council, in Resolution 1973, affirmed the responsibility of the Libyan authorities to protect the Libyan people and condemned the gross and systematic violations of human rights. The Council authorized member states to take “all necessary measures” to protect civilians and areas with civilian populations at risk of attacks, including Benghazi, while excluding any foreign occupation force of any form and on any part of Libyan territory.

Moussa says that the expression, “taking all necessary measures to protect civilians” was exploited by a number of countries with interests in Libya.

The Paris Meeting

The Arab League secretary-general recounts that French President Nicolas Sarkozy was one of the strongest advocates of the military option in striking Gaddafi’s forces, under the pretext of protecting civilians, as the following days have proven.

“On March 10, 2011, Paris was the first capital to recognize the National Transitional Council (NTC), which was formed by the rebel leaders in Benghazi on Feb. 27, as the sole and legitimate representative of the Libyan people…
Sarkozy organized a meeting in Paris on March 19, 2011, in the presence of prominent international figures, including: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, European Union Foreign Policy chief Catherine Ashton, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi El-Fihri, and Hoshyar Zebari, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq, as well as others.”

Moussa says he thought about boycotting the meeting over his doubts about the intentions of western countries, especially France. But he adds that former Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, who had been appointed as the representative of the UN in Libya as of March 7, 2011, insisted that he attend the talks.

“Sarkozy addressed the conference, saying: “The French Air Force will oppose any attack by Gaddafi’s planes against the residents of Benghazi. Indeed, our planes prevent airstrikes on this city. There are other French aircraft ready to intervene against armored vehicles that threaten unarmed civilians... Today, we are operating in Libya under the mandate of the Security Council with our partners, including our Arab partners. We are doing this in order to protect the civilian population from the madness of the murderous regime, which lost its full legitimacy by killing its own people... We intervene to allow the Libyan people to determine their fate.””

Moussa continues: “Sarkozy’s speech provoked me to the greatest extent. Because he openly spoke about circumventing the air embargo on Gaddafi’s forces, which was approved by Security Council Resolution 1973… and of his air force’s readiness to strike Gaddafi’s forces on the ground…”

The Arab League secretary-general says that in his address to the meeting, he reiterated that the purpose of the aforementioned Security Council resolution was to protect Libyan civilians only, and that the resolution did not give any party legitimacy to invade or occupy Libya.

“It was clear that I was filled with anger… Hamad bin Jassim told me: “The issue is over, brother Amr,”” Moussa recounts.

“My suspicion soon proved to be true… The civilian issue was a Trojan horse to overthrow Gaddafi. On the same day of the Paris meeting, before I arrived in Cairo back from the French capital, French warplanes began bombing Libyan defensive ground sites. After following up on this news about the military action on the Libyan lands, I knew once again that we were deceived, and that what was actually taking place in warfare went beyond Security Council Resolution 1973, which provides only for a no-fly zone on Libyan territory to prevent Gaddafi from striking civilians who are opposed to him.”

The Turkish doctor at the center of an alleged fraud scheme that led to the deaths of 10 babies told an Istanbul court Saturday that he was a “trusted” physician.

Dr. Firat Sari is one of 47 people on trial accused of transferring newborn babies to neonatal units of private hospitals, where they were allegedly kept for prolonged and sometimes unnecessary treatments in order to receive social security payments.

“Patients were referred to me because people trusted me. We did not accept patients by bribing anyone from 112,” Sari said, referring to Türkiye's emergency medical phone line.

Sari, said to be the plot’s ringleader, operated the neonatal intensive care units of several private hospitals in Istanbul. He is facing a sentence of up to 583 years in prison in a case where doctors, nurses, hospital managers and other health staff are accused of putting financial gain before newborns’ wellbeing, The AP reported.

The case, which emerged last month, has sparked public outrage and calls for greater oversight of the health care system. Authorities have since revoked the licenses and closed 10 of the 19 hospitals that were implicated in the scandal.

“I want to tell everything so that the events can be revealed,” Sari, the owner of Medisense Health Services, told the court. “I love my profession very much. I love being a doctor very much.”

Although the defendants are charged with the negligent homicide of 10 infants since January 2023, an investigative report cited by the state-run Anadolu news agency said they caused the deaths of “hundreds” of babies over a much longer time period.

Over 350 families have petitioned prosecutors or other state institutions seeking investigations into the deaths of their children, according to state media.

Prosecutors at the trial, which opened on Monday, say the defendants also falsified reports to make the babies’ condition appear more serious so as to obtain more money from the state as well as from families.

The main defendants have denied any wrongdoing, insisting they made the best possible decisions and are now facing punishment for unavoidable, unwanted outcomes.

Sari is charged with establishing an organization with the aim of committing a crime, defrauding public institutions, forgery of official documents and homicide by negligence.

During questioning by prosecutors before the trial, Sari denied accusations that the babies were not given the proper care, that the neonatal units were understaffed or that his employees were not appropriately qualified, according to a 1,400-page indictment.

“Everything is in accordance with procedures,” he told prosecutors in a statement.

The hearings at Bakirkoy courthouse, on Istanbul’s European side, have seen protests outside calling for private hospitals to be shut down and “baby killers” to be held accountable.

The case has also led to calls for the resignation of Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu, who was the Istanbul provincial health director at the time some of the deaths occurred. Ozgur Ozel, the main opposition party leader, has called for all hospitals involved to be nationalized.

In a Saturday interview with the A Haber TV channel, Memisoglu characterized the defendants as “bad apples” who had been “weeded out.”

“Our health system is one of the best health systems in the world,” he said. “This is a very exceptional, very organized criminal organization. It is a mistake to evaluate this in the health system as a whole.”

Memisoglu also denied the claim that he shut down an investigation into the claims in 2016, when he was Istanbul’s health director, calling it “a lie and slander.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this week that those responsible for the deaths would be severely punished but warned against placing all the blame on the country’s health care system.

“We will not allow our health care community to be battered because of a few rotten apples,” he said.

Amr Moussa: Western Countries Betrayed Arab Mandate to Security Council on Libya Civilian Protection