Context
Eleven British advisors have joined a large number of military trainers from Italy and France to assist the Libyan rebel Transitional National Council in establishing an operational command unit capable of confronting the Qaddafi regime. A top European diplomat, active in fostering ties with rebels in their stronghold of Benghazi, said that the establishment of a “joint operations center” with the support of Western trainers would help improve “military capacity”. The involvement of Britain, however, will raise concerns that the country might be dragged into the military campaign in Libya and seems to contradict Foreign Secretary William Hague’s pledge that military advisors wouldn’t train rebel fighters.
