Tripoli, March 18 (IANS) Libya has said it was grateful to the five countries, including India, who abstained from voting on a UN Security Council resolution authorising a no-fly zone over the strife-hit country.
The Security Council Thursday voted to ban flights in Libya's airspace and authorised military action to implement the ban, Xinhua reported.
The 15-nation council voted 10-0 to authorise the no-fly zone. China, Brazil, India, Germany and Russia abstained. The measure was backed by Bosnia, Colombia, France, Gabon, Lebanon, Nigeria, Portugal, South Africa, Britain and the US.
Khalid Kaim, Libyan deputy foreign minister, responded to the resolution by saying: "First of all, we are very grateful for the five countries that abstained, namely China, Russia, India, Brazil and Germany - what a surprise!"
"We also this morning sent a letter to the Secretary General of the UN to give assurances to the international community that we care about our people and we care about the territorial unity of the country," he was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.
Kaim said the Libyan government would "react positively to the UN resolution, and we will prove this willingness while guaranteeing protection to civilians".
India's deputy envoy to the UN, Manjeev Singh Puri, said the vote was being taken without any credible information about the ground situation in Libya, where government forces are trying to crush an uprising against long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
"We do not have clarity about details of enforcement measures, including who and with what asset will participate and how these measures will be exactly carried out," Puri said, explaining why India had decided to abstain.
"It is of course very important that there is full respect for the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Libya," he added.
Germany said it abstained from the vote because it sees "considerable dangers and risks" in military action.
"The likelihood of large-scale loss of life should not be underestimated. If the steps proposed turn out to be ineffective, we see the danger of being drawn into a protracted military conflict that would affect the wider region," Peter Wittig, Germany's UN envoy, was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.