US warships set to enter Suez Canal’
US: Two US warships entered Egypt’s Suez Canal yesterday morning as
the threat of military intervention in Libya looms large, an Egyptian
official says.Earlier Tuesday, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said
the USS Kearsarge, an amphibious ship capable of carrying up to 2,000
Marines, and the USS Ponce assault ship will be passing through the
Mediterranean shortly, Reuters reported Tuesday.
According to top US military officials, the Kearsarge warship will be
carrying 400 Marines from the United States and will be joining the USS
Enterprise, which is in the Red Sea en route to the Suez Canal. The
United States positioned naval and air forces around crisis-hit Libya as
the Libyan regime’s bloody crackdown on anti-government protests
continue to rage in the North African country.
The United States, along with Britain and France, has also sent
hundreds of Special Forces to Libya’s east. The forces are setting up
bases in the cities of Benghazi and Tobruk.
The move comes against the backdrop of heated discussions over the
possibility of imposing a no-fly zone on Libya, and a NATO-backed
military intervention. The potential intervention, on which no unanimous
decision has been made, has raised concerns over dire consequences it
might have in Arab states.
However, British envoy to the United Nations Mark Lyall Grant stated
that the 15-member UN Security Council, which slapped sanctions on the
Libyan regime last week, may decide to put up a no-fly zone in the North
African country. Presstv |