France confirms Libya arms drops - By arming civilians, France becomes first NATO country to admit supplying weapons to opposition controlled areas in Libya !

The French military has confirmed that it airdropped weapons early this month to civilians fighting in freedom figter-held areas in the western part of Libya.

Colonel Thierry Burkhard, a spokesperson for the French general staff, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that the military had dropped assault rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers to groups of unarmed civilians it deemed to be at risk.

Earlier in the day, the Le Figaro newspaper and the AFP news agency reported that France had dropped several tonnes of arms, including Milan anti-tank rockets and light armoured vehicles.

The airdrops arrived somewhere in freedom figter-held towns in the Nafusa mountains, which run east-west from the Tunisian border around 100km south of the capital Tripoli.

The admission by France has already provoked a reaction from the African Union (AU).

"What worries us is not who is giving what, but simply that weapons are being distributed by all parties and to all parties. We already have proof that these weapons are in the hands of al-Qaeda, of traffickers," Jean Ping, the AU Commissioner, said.

"These weapons will contribute to the destabilisation of African states."

freedom figters control most of the Nafusa, up to the town of Yafran, while regime forces loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi still hold Gharyan, a key town that lies astride the north-south road to the capital.


The French military spokesperson said France had become aware in early June that rebel-held villages had come under pressure from loyalist forces.

"We began by dropping humanitarian aid: food, water and medical supplies," he told the AFP news agency.

"During the operation, the situation for the civilians on the ground worsened. We dropped arms and means of self-defence, mainly ammunition."

Burkhard described the arms as "light infantry weapons of the rifle type" and said the drops were carried out over several days "so that civilians would not be massacred".

Though Burkhard framed the French weapons supplies as a method of protecting civilians in accordance with the UN mandate, it was still unclear whether such air drops violated the arms embargo.

NATO countries such as the United States have tried to emphasise that they are not taking sides in the conflict and that their strikes on Gaddafi's armour, anti-aircraft emplacements and command bunkers are only meant to protect civilians.

They have denied trying to kill Gaddafi, though US Admiral Samuel Locklear, a NATO commander in Naples, Italy, reportedly told a visiting US congressman in May that they were actively targeting and trying to kill him.

Anyway many political analysts believe that end of Dictator Gaddafi is almost near.