Europe’s air traffic control agency, Eurocontrol, told airlines on Friday that “the latest information from Malta indicates that Tripoli (air control center) does not accept traffic.” The Brussels-based agency’s map of air traffic over Europe and the Mediterranean showed that Libyan airspace was off limits.
On Thursday, the UN Security Council authorized “all necessary measures” to stop attacks on civilians in Libya — including strikes by sea and air — hours after Qaddafi vowed to launch a final assault and crush the weeks-old rebellion against him.
Eurocontrol said Friday it had no information on how long Libya’s airspace would be closed, but the agency said it had halted all air traffic to Libya for 24 hours.
“We applied a zero traffic rate for the whole day,” said a Eurocontrol official who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak to the news media.
She said the closure could also be affected by decisions made Friday by NATO, the North Atlantic military alliance.
Emboldened by the UN resolution, Libyan opposition supporters in Tripoli said they would gather later in the day to call for the end of Qaddafi’s rule.
“Today there will be protests in Tripoli. Everyone is waiting for the UN forces to arrive. They feel stronger,” said Mohamed, a Libyan living in exile abroad who spoke to his colleagues and friends in Tripoli on Friday.
“The mood is strong ... It will be after Friday prayers. They are preparing now. We think it will be a big one.”
Libyan authorities prevented foreign journalists from reporting freely in the capital on Friday ahead of anticipated protests.
Journalists invited to Tripoli by the Libyan government last month were prevented from leaving their government-designated hotel in the center of the capital on Friday.
Several reporters who tried to leave the hotel were stopped and told it was unsafe to go outside.
Following the UN vote, France said it could start military operations against Libya in a matter of hours.
“The French, who led the calls (for action), will of course be consistent with military intervention,” government spokesman Francois Baroin said on Friday. “The strikes will take place quickly.”
Asked to specify what that meant, he said France would “participate” in operations and stressed the action would be to aid a rebel uprising and would not mean an occupation of the North African oil producer.
French diplomatic sources have said that Britain, possibly the United States and one or more Arab states could join the operation, and that Paris wants to host a three-way meeting as early as Saturday between high-level representatives of the European Union, African Union and Arab League.
In London, Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain will imminently start moving fighter jets to bases from where they can help enforce a no-fly zone over Libya,
“Britain will deploy Tornadoes and Typhoons as well as air-to-air refueling and surveillance aircraft,” Cameron told parliament.
“Preparations to deploy these aircraft have already started and in the coming hours they will move to airbases from where they can start to take the necessary action.”
Cameron was one of the most enthusiastic supporters of a no-fly zone to protect Libyan civilians from Muammar Qaddafi’s forces, and British planes are expected to take part in the international military action.
But military experts caution that the consequences of such action are unpredictable. The former head of the British army, Richard Dannatt, said Friday it was crucial to proceed cautiously “so we don’t get into the kind of situation that we got into in Iraq by not having a Plan B for the morning after.”
Meanwhile, Egypt’s military has begun shipping arms over the border to Libyan rebels with Washington’s knowledge, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
Quoting US and Libyan rebel officials, the newspaper said the shipments were mostly of small arms such as assault rifles and ammunition.
It appeared to be the first case of an outside government arming the rebel fighters, the newspaper said.
Rebels have been losing ground for days in the face of an advance by forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi.
The rebels have, however, been buoyed by the decision on Thursday by the United Nations Security Council to authorize air strikes in an attempt to curb Qaddafi’s forces.
The Journal reported that Egyptian weapons transfers began “a few days ago” and are continuing, according to a senior US official.
“There’s no formal US policy or acknowledgement that this is going on,” said the official. But “this is something we have knowledge of.”
There was no official Egyptian confirmation of the shipments, the newspaper said. The Unied States is a major ally and supplier of military aid to Egypt.
“We know the Egyptian military council is helping us, but they can’t be so visible,” said Hani Souflakis, a Libyan businessman in Cairo who has been acting as a rebel liaison with the Egyptian government since the uprising began, according to the newspaper.
“Weapons are getting through,” said Souflakis. “Americans have given the green light to the Egyptians to help. The Americans don’t want to be involved in a direct level, but the Egyptians wouldn’t do it if they didn’t get the green light.”
A spokesman for the rebel government in Benghazi said arms shipments had begun arriving to the rebels but declined to specify where they came from, the Journal said.
Saif Al-Islam, the face of the Qaddafi government, said on Friday that Libya was “not afraid” of the UN move, Al Arabiya television reported.
Saif said the Libyan army would surround but not enter Benghazi and “anti-terror” forces would be sent in to disarm rebel forces, Al Jazeera quoted ABC news as saying.
Al Jazeera television showed thousands of people listening to the speech in a central Benghazi square, then erupting in celebration after the UN vote, waving anti-Qaddafi tricolors and chanting defiance of the man who has ruled for four decades.
Fireworks burst over the city and gunfire rang out.
Some had fled to the Egyptian border on Thursday but said the UN move had given them new hope. “It’s a great development. We are so thankful,” said Rajab Mohammed Al-Agouri, with five children. “But we are waiting for it to be implemented. We are tired of talk.”
On Thursday, Qaddafi rallied his forces to storm rebel strongholds and show “no mercy, no pity.”
“We will come. House by house, room by room,” Qaddafi said in a radio address to Benghazi late on Thursday.
People in Misrata said the rebel-held western city was being pounded by Qaddafi’s forces on Friday morning.
“There is heavy bombardment there, explosions inside the city,” said Tariq, a doctor from Misrata now in Britain, after speaking to colleagues and family by phone.
“They cannot deploy any ambulances. They think it’s artillery and tanks, shelling, not air strikes.”
Time was running short for Benghazi, the eastern city that has been at the heart of Libya’s month-old revolt.
But Qaddafi’s troops did not fulfil his threat to overrun the rebel base overnight after their rapid counter-offensive brought them to within 100 km (60 miles) of the eastern city.
