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Libya

UN dilemma: To aid or not to aid Libya's rebels

  • Diplomats: covert aid to rebels among options for West

  • Russia, China increasingly frustrated by Libya operation

  • Flouting sanctions could create bad precedent for Iran

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS, May 9 (Reuters) - A stalemate on the battlefields of Libya and a political deadlock on the U.N. Security Council have left Western powers with a stark choice -- covertly aid the rebels or leave them in the lurch.

Analysts and U.N. diplomats warn that if the United States, Britain, France or their allies were to exploit loopholes in, or secretly circumvent, a sanctions regime they themselves engineered in February and March, it could prompt Russia or China to adopt a similar stance on the sanctions against Iran.

Read the full article on AlertNet.