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Coalition forces don't rule out arming Libyan rebels

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The resolution, Cameron said, "allows all necessary measures to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas, and our view is that this would not necessarily rule out the provision of assistance to those protecting civilians in certain circumstances."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that Washington also believes it would be legal to give the rebels weapons. As to whether the country would do so, President Barack Obama, though facing great domestic pressure questioning American military involvement in the North African country, told NBC, "I'm not ruling it out, but I'm also not ruling it in."

Others, meanwhile, cautioned of the consequences should a decision to arm the rebels be made.

Italian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Maurizio Massari said arming the rebels would be an "extreme" measure likely to divide the international community.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that his country believed foreign powers do not have the right to arm the rebels according to the U.N. resolutions.

He agreed with NATO Secretary General Fogh Rasmussen, who told the CNN on Monday that the on-going military actions were intend to protect civilians on the ground, not to arm them.

Lavorav also said Russia believed it was time for Gaddafi to step down and give Libyan people a chance to form a government of their own choosing without "foreign interference."

Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday told visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy that "dialogue and other peaceful means are the ultimate solutions to problems".

"If military action brings disaster to civilians and causes a humanitarian crisis, then it runs counter to the purpose of the UN resolution," Hu said.

Sarkozy, whose nation launched the first round of attacks against Libyan government forces on March 19, said France hopes to resolve the crisis through political and diplomatic means.

France, one of the strongest backers of international intervention in Libya, believes arming rebels would require a new U.N. resolution; the existing one includes an arms embargo. But Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said, "We are ready to discuss it with our partners."

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