France and Italy to send officers to aid Libyan rebels
Small teams of French and Italian military officers will be dispatched to aid Libyan rebels, officials announced Wednesday. France will send fewer than 10 officers while Italy will send 10 officers, in an effort to advise rebels who seek to topple Col. Muammar Gadhafi’s regime. A French government spokesman reaffirmed that France has no intention of deploying a military force in Libya. The Italian defence minister said that stronger intervention may be necessary, so long as it falls within the terms of UN Security Council resolution 1973, which authorizes "all necessary measures short of occupation." On Tuesday, the UK announced it would be sending a similar team to Benghazi, the rebel stronghold.
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