Venezuela, Russia, China and the African Union are among the
countries and organizations to come out against the Western attacks
in Libya.
Britain, France and the United States launched strikes Saturday
against Libya's air defence to help enforce the no-fly order
approved by the United Nations and to protect Libyan civilians, the
Pentagon said.
But Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez condemned the strikes,
claiming the attackers just want Libya's oil.
Chavez, who is
close to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and sharply critical of the
U.S., said "they want to seize Libya's oil. The lives of Libya's
people don't matter to them at all."
Cuba's Fidel Castro and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega,
allies of Venezuela, backed Chavez. Russia expressed regret over
the attacks, saying the UN Security Council Resolution that
authorized the no-fly order was "adopted in haste."
The African Union opposed the military action. It plans to send
a delegation to the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Sunday.
In Beijig, China expressed "regret" on Sunday over the attacks.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said China "consistently
disagrees with the use of force in international relations" and
expressed "regret" over the Saturday attacks.
China was among five countries that abstained from Thursday's
vote on the UN resolution to authorize"all necessary measures" to
stop Gadhafi.
Libya said Saturday the attacks rendered the UN no-fly
resolution invalid.
It asked for an urgent meeting of the Security Council "after
the French-American-British aggression against Libya, an
independent state member of the United Nations."
Canada is supporting the attacks to protect innocent Libyan
civilians, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Saturday.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/03/19/libya-attack-world-reaction.html
