UAE silent on claims it bombed Libyan Islamists
The United Arab Emirates made no comment on Tuesday after US officials said warplanes from the Gulf state, flying from bases in Egypt, had secretly bombed Islamist militia targets in Libya.
Contacted by AFP, an Emirati official said only that his country has "no reaction" to such reports.
Two US officials said on Monday that the UAE had carried out airstrikes against the Libya militias from Egyptian bases.
In an editorial on Tuesday, daily newspaper Al-Khaleej, which has close ties to the authorities, wrote that Libya has become a "hotbed for terrorism ... endangering not only itself but neighboring and regional countries".
The daily urged "forming an Arab coalition ... to take prompt and effective action based on a clear strategy to confront this epidemic, which takes different names like the Islamic State, Ansar al-Sharia, or the Muslim Brotherhood, which must be eradicated from their roots".
UAE State Minister for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash had earlier this week criticized accusations of UAE involvement in the bombing raids, first reported by The New York Times and Islamist forces in Libya.
Gargash said on Twitter that attempts to implicate the UAE in Libyan affairs aimed to "escape from facing the results of (June) elections," in which a new parliament replaced the Islamist-dominated General National Congress transitional political body.
However, a US official said on condition of anonymity on Monday that "the UAE carried out those strikes", confirming The New York Times report.
Washington itself did not take part or provide any assistance in the raids, two US officials said.
The strikes may have been an attempt to prevent the capture of Tripoli airport, but the militia forces eventually prevailed anyway and seized it.
The UAE provided the military aircraft, aerial refueling planes and aviation crews to bomb Libya, while Cairo offered access to its air bases, the Times said.
(China Daily 08/27/2014 page12)
