NATO calls emergency council meeting on Libya

NATO calls emergency council meeting on Libya

Priority must be given to evacuation and possibly humanitarian assistance.

February 25, 2011 10:17 by Reuters

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he had called an emergency NATO council meeting for Friday afternoon to discuss the situation in Libya.

“I have convened an emergency meeting in the NATO council this afternoon to consult on this fast-moving situation. So I will return to Brussels in a few hours,” he told Reuters during a visit to Budapest on Friday.

“Before I do so, I will meet with EU defence ministers and discuss with them how we in a pragmatic way can help those in need and limit the consequences of these events.”

He said priority must be given to evacuation and possibly humanitarian assistance.

“It’s a bit premature to go into specifics but it’s well-known that NATO has assets that can be used in a situation like this and NATO can act as an enabler and coordinator if and when individual member states want to take action,” he said.

(Reporting by Gergely Szakacs; editing by Andrew Roche)