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Libya: ministers contradict Chief of the Defence Staff over legality of targeted strike on Col Gaddafi
Cabinet ministers have contradicted senior military commanders by suggesting that coalition forces in action over Libya can legitimately target Colonel Muammar GaddaThe Chief of the Defence Staff, Gen Sir David Richards, flatly insisted that seeking to hit the Libyan dictator was not allowed under the terms of United Nations Security Council resolution 1973.
But after Defence Secretary Liam Fox suggested over the weekend that Col Gaddafi could be a "legitimate target", No 10 sources insisted it was legal to target anyone killing Libyan civilians.
The controversy blew up as Col Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli was hit in a second night of coalition air strikes aimed at suppressing the regime's air defences and command and control structure.
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