In These New Times

This NATO spokesman is the new spokesman for the ironically titled Operation Unified Protector- he is contradicting claims about the fall of Brega and emphasizing NATO’s supposed dissociation  from the rebels. This new NATO spin presumably reflects that organisation’s deep divisions over an increasingly disastrous war and is consistent with French statements to the effect that further military action is useless.

People’s Daily

20th July, 2011

A NATO spokesman dismissed on Tuesday that the military alliance had “direct coordination” with Libyan rebel forces, who fought their way into the eastern oil town of Brega.

“With respect to the alleged coordination with opposition forces in the area of Brega, NATO does not have direct coordination with opposition forces or rebel forces in Brega. We do not have direct contact with them,” said Colonel Roland Lavoie, spokesman for NATO’s Libya operation.

“The situation in Brega is very fluid… It is premature for us to come with a verdict with respect to the situation there,” he said via video conference from Naples, Italy.

The spokesman said that the alliance would closely monitor the situation in Brega “in the coming days.”

Libyan rebels claimed control of Brega on Monday, as most pro-Gaddafi troops reportedly retreated westward. The Libyan government has accused NATO of carrying out a coordinated attack with rebel forces on Brega.