dozens reportedly killed in libya with operation odyssey dawn in full swing as foreign forces push forward with military intervention against the gadhafi regime. the international community unites a case that if you need it but listen france and united states launching a missile strikes against his forces join me want to stand on the libyan capital in a few moments formal. washington says its military involvement in libya will be limited but for some americans it's deja vu with fears of a repeat of the iraq operation. the pentagon says gadhafi air defenses have been severely disabled i'll be back with more from washington in just

a few minutes and russia calls on all sides to put an end to the violence while terming foreign intervention in libya as regrettable joins me in a few moments for the latest reaction from mosco. two pm in moscow i'm match reza good to have you with us here on r t our top story colonel moammar gadhafi is promising our long war against the coalition military forces which are targeting his troops with air strikes and cruise missiles and in a phone call to libyan state television the leader claims he's opened up weapons depots to the population so they can protect themselves from attack or his policy here is in tripoli which has been the main coalition target. well the latest reports we are receiving say that some forty bombs have been dropped by three american stealth bombers on a major libyan if feels now we have no more information about that at this moment

but i can certainly tell you that the mood here in the capital city is incredibly tense and incredibly angry there is a demonstration taking place a short distance from where i'm talking to you from men women and i saw even some children who have come out to protest and condemn the international community's reaction and attacks on libya now we do know that later today sunday we talk decision making body of nato will be holding a meeting to decide whether or not the coalition is going to be part of these airstrikes or whether it is going to continue to provide the just because intelligence and other support systems the operation odyssey dawn is clearly underway which is french and american cruise missiles and fighter jets have targeted what we've been told some twenty targets now it's not yet clear exactly what damage has been inflicted to be on hearing from the american administration that they had completely destroyed gadhafi surface to air missile defense systems now those targets were happening along the northern coastline of this country that

is way he has his defense systems it's also where they've been targeting warning radar systems and communication facilities at this stage the whole purpose of the art of this operation is to clear the way for air patrols she ground libya's a force at this moment in time gadhafi is being holed up in his compound thousands of libyans have gone there to barricade him in almost present themselves as human shields to protect him and no doubt also to provide some protection for themselves there are also people who have taken to the airports and other major installations here to try and ward off and prevent attacks from the international community there cations where they think international fighter jets might be targeting now he did speak on libyan state television he did not speak on camera but his message was quite clear he said that the regime was. distributing with whose he wanted people to gable cheap defend themselves against what he is calling crusaders at the same time he's mourning the mediterranean a battleground and the shit that this country did nothing to justify the kind of

attacks that are being targeted against it's going to be a state television is reporting that forty eight civilians have been killed and a hundred and fifty have been injured but we've just gotten this t.v. some reports that suggest that some of the bodies that are being presented might be bodies that were killed earlier and that literally being taken from the malls and being presented as victims of last night and this morning's gunfire but certainly this morning there was a lot of firing here in tripoli because the use of anti aircraft fire from and gadhafi and libya's machinery their coalition decision to take military action in libya is being made under the premise of a humanitarian mission but globalization analyst michel chossudovsky says the use of heavy artillery suggests a different agenda. it is not recommended terry in operation it is definitely war at using a bronze military material and to say that this is to save the

lives of civilians since when do these fighter bombers and save the lives of civilians. wish. to change this impulse was no mention of the security council resolution prime minister stephen fry. and i'm following the canadian responses has stated that the objective of this operation is to unseat and ossie. so that the whole humanitarian underpinnings of this war becoming entirely clear aspect is that in fact this military coalition is already implying late to. the resolution which they themselves have falls on the so-called international community article nineteen. of the resolution of the united nations security

council resolution says to which it involved go on the weapons on to. to libya but in fact what are they doing then bringing in weapons and supplying the opposition forces the best but it's true feet of this law is oil. from. the united states canada of there with the intent of the interests of the corporates of the oil corporations and the extension of the influence. to africa this is not. a humanitarian operation it is a war of conquest and it will have devastating consequences or not only on own all the people of libya but most generally. coalition combat aircraft and submarines based in several countries are involved in operation odyssey dawn the decision to take direct action to enforce the libyan no fly zone was thrashed out at

a summit in paris only hours before the first writes european correspondent daniel bushell has more on the scale of the operation france is taking a direct role role along with the u.k. it's already employed its rough and we raj fighter jets in addition to that it's also added shoulder planes the u.k. is helping with the navy blockade of libya. with minster and cumberland will be helping with that it's also sent typhoon and tornado fighter jets italy is expected to be a key base for operations naples and sicily also which is being used by american and canadian planes among them fighter jets and side has said it's also sending six f. sixteen fighter jets to help the operation several e.u. countries are coming around and saying they will take part in the operation in various ways belgium here is one netherlands norway is another country so we're seeing the there is

a coming through of the european nations on this operation germany actually abstained from the u.n. vote on imposing a no fly zone over libya airspace which would ground colonel gadhafi is jets and helicopters angela merkel the chancellor of germany it seems was then pulled into line at the paris summit yesterday and she came out and said that she goes back to the operation even though her country abstained and there's known to be a lot of public dissent in germany about that and here in belgium actually yesterday i saw the first and she was demonstration just outside where i am at the moment so public opposition is building and of course there are fears that this could turn into another iraq the west say that they're going to be very sort of precise and very quick about it but that was expected to be the case in iraq as well so there are growing concerns about that as well. several members of the british parliamentary skeptical about why their country is being dragons you are in conflict opposition m.p. jeremy corbyn says the u.k. is being very selective in choosing where military intervention is needed. i must

say i absolutely regret the lack of the ceasefire and i regret what is happening at the moment a lot of innocent people have already died if they strike against. military targets the regime but i suspect the real problem is they're going to have to strike against targets in the cities and that results in large numbers of million casualties this is a terrible situation i think there's a lot of double standards going on here because what is happening in libya is obviously terrible and obviously good our friends should have heeded the views of ordinary people and come to some kind of accommodation with them or removed himself from office but. there's been no condemnation worthy of anything against bahrain saudi arabia yemen or a martin who've also been killing large numbers of civilians totally over the last few weeks and i think the west is being very selective about this whilst the un has put in place a resolution calling for

a no fly zone and that is obviously they have not used the words regime change a little less clearly what's intended and now there's a worry that we're getting ourselves involved in yet another war and yet another conflict which is essentially an internal civil war in libya and at the same time only six weeks ago britain was selling arms to libya buying oil from libya british companies were investing in libya i needed libya was investing heavily in this country and so it's in a very short space of time that libya has gone from most favored nation to zero and one sort of one does speak of all this and many of those that are now calling for probably going to libya were only a few weeks ago in libya doing business deals. president obama is promising not to deploy u.s. ground forces in libya unless it's absolutely necessary he says america's role would be limited as part of the international effort to protect libyans from the colonel qaddafi but first some there is real worry that it echoes the u.s.

invasion of iraq eight years ago and the devastating consequences that could result or he's got a cheeky on brings us the u.s. perspective from washington. the pentagon says khadafi air defenses have been a severely disabled as they put it the u.s. has launched a missile from its war ships and submarines in the mediterranean targeting a air defenses and as the pentagon says the goal is to shape the battlefield for the coalition forces to take further action basically what they're doing is they're clearing this guy is so that he is not able to shoot down any planes of the coalition forces in the pentagon also says that this is just the beginning of the operation and in the coming few days more nato ships will converge on a lead to inforce naval blockade and earlier french fighter jets have carried out strikes on these ground forces and there have been reports of civilian casualties caused by the attacks and really alarming reports where president obama also

reiterated is that there will be no u.s. troops on the ground although there are still lot of questions as to the limits of this intervention will will it be enough for the coalition forces to do just this arm could be or will they go beyond that pool and what will be the outcome those are the questions everybody is asking and the fears are that this operation include could be something more than just an effort to protect a civilian severely as the wording of the u.n. resolution which was passed on thursday is basically all inclusive short of occupation of course and the fears are that certain actions taken by international forces could destabilize the situation even more shooting down khadafy fighter bombers and attacking other other military assets is one thing but fighting arming the rebels for example is something very different and we are getting reports that egypt's military is shipping arms over the border to levy and rebels and they just militaries we know is very well influenced by washington and reports so it's not

just the cut off the army versus coalition forces this could the fear is that this could turn into a fog. fledged civil war and the arms supplies could inflame the situation even further diplomatically speaking the white house has been trying very hard to not to appear as the driving force behind this military actions but they also stress again and again that it is not just the western powers going to war in libya they stress that they have the support of the arab league older up to this point it is not really clear what the actual input of arab countries is in this action but what it what they need and very much want is the arab countries assistance so that it doesn't appear as the west cracking down and yet another arab say. for more insight on the military maneuvers on libya i'm joined by claude monique a in brussels he's from european strategic intelligence and security center good to have you with us so nato is deciding whether to join the coalition running on it

after you regime which countries do you think might get involved in. but i don't think if we have if you will have more. little conflicts in the conflict for the moment we have. we have we have. so i'm not sure we need. to control what we need today clearly. we must conclude supporting the action. soon as possible for. political reasons do you think we may see ground troops in libya and could there be a scenario where that might be allowed. i'll tell you of course as you know the u.n. security council resolution thought by the family did the use of. troops no boots on grooms so if we were this person older o'toole

notable was written in the un and it would be extremely difficult to get it so i don't think that we will have it in ny i don't think that we need it it's absolutely possible today to make a really effective operation operation targeting does he treat a common control. of the nation in intelligence why do you think the united states france and britain are taking the lead on this especially france was the first speak out about the strike oh i think for france it was a political clearly a political sign a process you know. was criticized for having received. three years ago. before the the first of the republican so one could. also france had some problems and some french minister some problems. with tunisia and egypt two months ago so i think for france it was important politically

speaking symbolically speaking it was important for them to be the lead of do first operation and sit on the of course. clearly eating. all the diplomatic battle the last two or three weeks to get this appropriation don't. our nations are also showing their support are they likely do you think to be dragged into the operation something that no doubt would boost the coalition standpoint it's of no i don't turn to your question do you think that arab league nations was also joining the coalition efforts here. yes i think so i think so. definitively in part on two of them we can do nothing. but i think the important think today is to fit into the strategy to observe the strategy it's extremely clear for me that we are no more you know nor fly zone in position we are clearly

in the police on the strategy which is to. push the stock at a few out of power by any possible means. nato was engaged in afghanistan heavily the u.s. is in gauged very heavily in afghanistan and iraq there is economic hardship and austerity being imposed on europe and in the united states what do you think is there to gain by more military involvement in another country in this case libya and north africa region oh it could certainly be difficult to sell a long long time war to the public opinion and to the police and make us in europe as well as the united states certainly for economic abuse. but i don't think it will be a long. long time well it could be fixed in a few days maybe in one or two weeks i will be extremely. if in let's say in three weeks we still remain with me stuck in tripoli so. if we

engage in a very long operation between extremely difficult to sustain it for political reasons in europe but if the operational nice quiet short between a few days in let's say two weeks before the g.o.p. on the sixth really supporting this of bush and for the moment in europe for humanitarian reasons we could game this we could gain this a political battle in in europe. finally the coalition keeps saying it wants the libyan people to decide their own future for themselves how convinced can they be that the majority of libyans one can are out to justify their actions. the point is . we have to focus on one thing the operation and didn't. the question of what will happen in libya after all this is clearly a problem of the leaders it's a problem of national reconciliation it's

a problem of the leadership of the leadership of been busy could see it actually we don't know what is diluted political leadership of the been busy concede it's extremely possible to travel as you know it is for me because he will protect the poor and the leader in the influence of the been busy consider just apply and is done. a lot on syria tripoli or the west some but so clearly the futile off libya will be complicated but for the moment the point to do to fix east stop if you throw this intervention is going to be conflict on both sides people on both sides of the people who support mr clarke the people who support the rebels they are both going to see casualties are now on either end what do you think will be the long term consequences of this intervention after of the dust settles. i think . this is of course extremely important i think first of all clearly for years for ten years twenty years we were living in

a world where we were speaking to police to make us laugh taking a boat as you will be. it doesn't exist kill when you enter you will get casualties. civilian casualties it it's it's sad but that's the so i think everyone pulled understand this for the moment but the one point of course is that we must believe it's the. specially the civilian casualties so after the conflict when the first will settle their own probably everything will be planned of. the scale of the casualty just discovered of the disruptions in libya and of course of the support of the arab countries if a deal of the day we are alone in the western bloc the so-called western block in libya we thought any arab support it would be very difficult to explain the situation but if we can think we will be we have do we still aiming to see part of

the countries an opinion on too many casualties i think the film could be good right clyde money from european strategic intelligence and security center back of your perspective and your. let's sum up the main developments in our top story this hour witnesses in the rebel held city of misrata say they are coming under shelling from pro could off the forces of libyan leader earlier spoke on state television saying the weapons are being distributed to arm the population so they can protect themselves from coalition strikes the military campaign against the gadhafi regime was launched by britain france and united states on saturday evening about twenty libyan defense targets have been hit in the west of the country by more than one hundred missiles fired from c forty eight people have reportedly been killed one hundred fifty others wounded after international coalition forces unleashed warplanes and missiles over libya and u.s. confirms that its jets dropped forty forty bombs on major libyan air fields earlier

on sunday international action talo the u.n. resolution to allow a no fly zone over libya to be enforced to stop bloodshed before the coalition airstrikes medics in benghazi say ninety people were killed in the city when it came under heavy bombardment by cannot be forces during the previous two days. russia has described the international military action in libya as regrettable the foreign ministry is urging all sides to do everything they can to stop the civilian suffering and agree and to an immediate cease fire or t.s.p. or all of our has more reaction from moscow. russia has expressed regrets over this international intervention into libya and a statement by the foreign ministry they called on all sides to stop violence as soon as possible well russia has been against international intervention in libya pretty much since the start of unrest in the country around a month ago now some circles of start to concern both international intervention

led by by britain france and the united states saying that it could be overstepping the the boundaries laid out by the u.n. security council resolution. gallow for the federation council the foreign affairs committee leader has said that in his own opinion he believes that they are going too far with this action it's taken resolution number nine hundred seventy three its main goal was to defend the civilian population but not to punish the gadhafi regime or withrow it so in that respect with think that nine hundred seventy three resolution is mostly a humanitarian resolution so to speak for a humanitarian resolution then a full military resolution my personal concern is that any military operation which is conducted by the west in the arab world can lead to

a very predictable scenario like all the parties involved in the conflict they get together and start fighting against foreign invaders there were several examples of such scenarios in the history of the greater middle east so i think that we all have to be very cautious now and we all have to think first of all of that the political solution should go before a military solution we think that g.m. has already lost its internal and international credibility but we think also that . well for minister for all of his opponents and begin a visit to the region he's in egypt on sunday before heading off to algeria now both of those countries of course bulleteer libya they're going to be watching very closely what happens in the country. is there to discuss deals.

between russia and egypt and algeria no it's his first visit to the to egypt since the revolution there in january and he'll be watching what goes on in libya very very closely to see what russia's next move will be as it deals with this region the suffering the peace these uprisings and this kind international intervention at the moment turning now to developments in japan which is struggling to restore power to the cooling systems of a crippled fukushima nuclear power plant the country's earthquake disaster has claimed more than eight thousand lives many more still missing police believe up to fifteen thousand people may have been killed in one prefecture alone archy's ivor bennett is a nagasaki where the locals are hoping nuclear workers well managed to prevent. they have managed to reconnect power cables to reactors number one and two now but in the last twenty four hours they had hoped to restore power itself electricity

which they haven't done yet to the cooling systems so they get a call and systems up and running again and get the temperatures down inside the reactor because that's the only way it seems they're going to get this situation under control they haven't been able to do that yet because well there's been a lot of damage the reactors due to the earthquake the radiation levels they're battling there are very very high what's more it's not guaranteed but once that if they turn electricity on their parts will actually start working again because they might be damaged in the carrying out these checks now to see if there elektra's they will function properly once they turn it on sort of being very cautious about that is in the meantime all they can do is try is try to keep this situation under control trying to make it not get any worse but improving that's all they can do so they're continuing to spray water inside the reactors last night the tokyo fire department and park in a thirteen hour operation spring in two thousand tons inside reactor number three to try and keep the tension down is that all they can do until they have those

calling systems up and running again without those all they can try to do is to stop it from getting any worse that being said though reactor three has proven very troublesome and it seems like the pressure inside he still believes building once again now and they're considering adding to it as a bedsit which means that the controlled release of steam but with an escape of steam from inside the reactor is also has the use here of radioactive substances now this whole process has been going on for nine days now workers are trying their best but the public is obviously getting very anxious of radiation spreading as far south as tokyo as the anxiety they haven't found yet on the streets of tokyo today five hundred and the nuclear protest and joined an annual antiwar demonstration it blackens calling for the end of the nuclear power in japan they want all. they should shut down up about there are nothing to get that demands met but the focusing on power plants certainly one so it's it gets under control about without

the shutdown because it will pull the use of seawater inside the reactors who are down has now entered the useless they've actually found traces of the radioactive substances i had seen which isn't radioactive fuel use that for kashima inside the tab or systems of incentives by neighboring prefectures to push him or and if resell and more are in bounds even entries as far south as tokyo in the tap water then and these traces aren't harmful yet the ones in fukushima are above the political level what's worrying is that normally there isn't any trace of radioactive id but there are means the traces and also what's more is that a radio station has also spread to food produce from the machine mccree fixture in milk and spinach were tested and they were found to contain harmful levels of potentially harmful levels of radiation in them and ingested then its feeds although the idea now has a short half life it could prove risky to human health and it could it damaged by

road well more on japan coming up later this hour when we talk about the long term but if implications with a seismic activity experts stay with us. well the british.