France Sent Weapons to Libyan Civilians Under Siege by Gadhafi's Forces
In June 2011 France acknowledged airdropping weapons to rebels in Libya's western mountains, raising questions about the limits of the UN mandate.
In late June 2011 the French military confirmed that it had parachuted weapons to rebel fighters in Libya's Nafusa Mountains, south-west of Tripoli. A military spokesman described the airdrops as humanitarian and defensive, intended to help civilians under siege by Muammar Gadhafi's forces protect themselves.
The legal argument
The drops raised immediate questions. UN Security Council Resolution 1970 had imposed an arms embargo on Libya, while Resolution 1973 authorised "all necessary measures" to protect civilians. France argued that the second resolution allowed it to arm people defending themselves. Russia and others said that the arms deliveries breached the embargo and showed that the intervention had become a campaign for regime change.
The effect on the war
The Nafusa Mountain fighters played an important role in the advance on Tripoli in August 2011. The episode also foreshadowed a problem that haunted Libya afterwards: large quantities of weapons in the hands of disparate armed groups, many of which were never disarmed.
Why it still matters
The dispute over the Libya mandate shaped the diplomatic deadlock over Syria that followed, with Russia and China citing Libya as the reason they would not allow similar resolutions again.