The UK and France have lost all hope of launching military action to halt Muammer Gaddafi’s attack on rebels in Libya, according to senior European officials who acknowledge he may be in a position to crush the uprising within weeks.
As forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi attacked Ajdabiya, a strategic town in eastern Libya whose capture would pave the way for an assault on the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, Britain and France continued to press for a new UN Security Council resolution that maintains pressure on the Gaddafi regime. But one senior UK government official said he can see no way for David Cameron, prime minister, to win international support for military action to stop the onslaught.
UK officials are instead beginning to turn their attention to how a triumphant Col Gaddafi can be contained in the months and years ahead.