The international community condemned the US-led air war on Libya today, warning that the "wanton use of armed force" is "causing even more civilian casualties."China called on all sides to implement an immediate ceasefire and "resolve issues through peaceful means."
Referring to reports that the three-day-old aerial assault had killed at least 64 Libyan civilians and wounded 150 others, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu expressed "deep concern.
"The original intent of the security council resolution was to protect the security of Libya's people.
"We oppose the wanton use of armed force causing even more civilian casualties and an even bigger humanitarian disaster."
Ms Jiang said that China, one of five veto-wielding permanent members of the UN security council, had only opted not to oppose the resolution out of consideration for the support shown for the measure among Arab and African states.
In New Delhi Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told parliament today that foreign forces should not be meddling in Libyan affairs.
"Nobody, no two or three countries, can take a decision to change a particular regime in a third country," Mr Mukherjee said.
Indian Foreign Minister Somanahalli Krishna said the strikes would bring harm to "innocent civilians, foreign nationals and diplomatic missions."
"India calls upon all parties to abjure violence and the use of threats and force to resolve the differences," Mr Krishna declared.
Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov reaffirmed Moscow's opposition to the aggression today and called on "all sides to do everything to end the violence."
In Pyongyang a Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the attack on Libya showed that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was justified in reinforcing its "military capacity for self-defence."
The chorus of condemnation followed the African Union's demand for an end to the assault and a regional solution to the crisis in the oil-rich state.
The Cuban Ministry for Foreign Affairs has strongly condemned the ongoing airstrikes.
In a statement released on Sunday the ministry noted that the "Western powers carrying out these military attacks are coincidently responsible for the deaths of more than one million civilians in Iraq and more than 70,000 in Afghanistan."
foreigneditor@peoples-press.com
A US war plane crashed near Benghazi on Monday night.The United States African Command said that two airmen had managed to eject from their F-15E after experiencing "equipment malfunction."
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