BBC news 2011-03-20 加文本

BBC news 2011-03-20

BBC News with Fiona MacDonald

An international military operation is underway in Libya to enforce a United Nations resolution to prevent Colonel Gaddafi's forces attacking civilians. The United States said American and British naval forces have fired more than 100 cruise missiles at around 20 military targets in Libya. Paul Adams reports from Washington.

Within the last few minutes, the director of the US military's Joint Staff, Vice Admiral William Gortney, has given more details about what he described as the first phase of a multi-phased operation. He said 110 cruise missiles had been fired against Libya's air defence and missile systems. This phase he said was all about creating conditions for coalition partners to patrol the no-fly zone established by UN Security Council Resolution 1973.

State TV in Libya said civilian targets had been hit. Earlier, French warplanes destroyed a number of pro-Gaddafi tanks and armoured vehicles near the rebel-held city of Benghazi.

President Obama says the United States is part of a broad coalition to answer the calls of a threatened people in Libya, but he reiterated that the US would not deploy troops on the ground.

"I want the American people to know that the use of force is not our first choice, and it's not a choice that I make lightly. But we cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people that there will be no mercy, and his forces step up their assaults on cities like Benghazi and Misrata."

The French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has said that the attacks will continue over the next few days until the Libyan government complies with the UN resolution. Russia said it regrets the decision by Western powers to take military action in Libya.

Reports from the rebel-held stronghold of Benghazi say rebels have retaken the whole of the city after driving out forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi. A British journalist in Benghazi told the BBC that the city had been heavily shelled by pro-Gaddafi forces, but that there had not been any incoming fire since late afternoon. The rebels say roads to the east of Benghazi are clogged with carloads of terrified families. Kevin Connolly is in eastern Libya.

What we can see tonight I think in the rebel-held part of eastern Libya here is that a day that began frankly in shock and despair when Muammar Gaddafi used the window of opportunity created by the gap between the UN's resolution and UN action in the skies here to move into Benghazi. As the skies have darkened behind me in Tobruk, the mood has lightened because this sense that United Nations sanction jets are in the air, taking action against Muammar Gaddafi, targeting his tanks on the ground, there is a huge belief in this part of the country now that that is turning the tide of this civil war against Muammar Gaddafi, and may also represent a turning point in this country's unhappy recent history.

World News from the BBC

Millions of people in Egypt have taken part in a referendum on constitutional reforms a month after a popular uprising swept President Mubarak from power. In the capital Cairo, an angry crowd prevented the opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei from casting his vote. If passed, the vote would allow Egypt to hold fresh elections within six months. Initial results are expected on Sunday. From Cairo, here's Jonathan Head.

It was something most of the voters said they'd never seen before, people queuing in lines that ran around the block to cast their ballots. Under former President Mubarak, elections were stage-managed affairs with predetermined results, and turnout was very low. Today, though, people waited patiently for hours. For many of them, it was the first time they'd ever voted.

The Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has told President Obama that the United States will have many opportunities to help develop Brazil's newly found oil fields. She was speaking after talks with Mr Obama, who's visiting the country for the first time. For his part, President Obama said the US was looking forward to signing several trade and financial agreements with Brazil.

The Japanese authorities say they've detected radioactive contamination in food as they try to fix the wrecked nuclear power plant at Fukushima. Officials said they'd found radiation levels above safety limits in milk and vegetables originating from the Fukushima area. Traces of radioactive iodine were also reported in tap water near Tokyo. But the government said the levels present pose no risk to human health.

The governing party in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has said it will provide all households in the state with free food mixer if it's voted back into power. The DMK party, a key ally of the Congress-led government, is also offering free laptops for college students and free rice for nearly two million very poor families.

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