NATO destroys Tripoli’s airport radar

Libya: NATO warplanes have destroyed the radar antenna at Tripoli’s International Airport, claiming it was used for military purposes by Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

According to a NATO statement issued on Monday, the civilian air traffic control radar tracked NATO jets and provided information to Libyan regime’s air defense systems, the Associated Press reported.

“The antenna, which was previously used for civilian air traffic control, was being used by pro-Gaddafi forces to track NATO air assets in the airspace over Tripoli and to coordinate their own air defense early warning system,” the statement said.

Libyans, however, said the radar targeted by NATO was used for civilian purposes, including guiding the UN and relief agency flights into the airport.

NATO said the no-fly zone over Libya made it unnecessary to use the radar for civilian purposes. It has bombed dozens of military radar sites in the four-month war.

Because of technical limitations, it is difficult to convert civilian radars to target aircraft in the same way as military radars. But civilian radars can be used to monitor the airspace and provide general information on the speed and altitude of intruders.

Civilian radars cannot track and target aircraft like military radars and it’s against the international law to attack them.

A NATO official argued that this made the antenna a legitimate military target.

NATO is conducting airstrikes in Libya to implement the UN Security Council Resolution 1973, and says its air campaign aims at protecting civilians. However, Libyan officials say hundreds of civilians have been killed as a result of the attacks.

Critics accuse the West of hypocrisy over the offensive in Libya, along with its silence towards the brutal crackdowns on similar anti-regime movements elsewhere in the Arab world, such as in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Tuesday,Press TV