New York: UN aid chief Valerie Amos has warned against blurring the lines between military operations and relief work in Libya. Valerie Amos said there was no need yet to accept an EU offer of military escorts to protect aid deliveries.
Libya’s rebels have rejected a ceasefire offer from the government of Col Muammar Gaddafi.
Inspired by uprisings in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt, they have been fighting Col Gaddafi’s forces since February.
The rebels, based in Benghazi, hold much of the east, while Col Gaddafi remains in control of Tripoli and most of the west.
Amos spoke after Britain, France and Italy said they would send small teams of military advisers to rebels fighting to topple Col Gaddafi.
“Our responsibility, all the time, is to ensure that our aid is offered on an impartial basis,” she said.
Military escorts could put aid workers and the delivery of their aid at risk, she said.
“We have to be extremely careful about that and make sure the lines are not blurred.”
Humanitarian supplies were reaching both sides in the conflict, she said.
Speaking at the UN in New York after a visit to Libya, Amos said the Libyan authorities had agreed to secure aid workers in conflict zones and ensure they got through government roadblocks.
But without agreement on a ceasefire, access to places such as Misrata would be determined by the intensity of the fighting, she said.
If the security situation became impossible, Amos said, then the UN would call on the EU for military support for its aid deliveries.
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