UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Britain and France are drafting a U.N. resolution that would establish a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent Moammar Gadhafi's air force from bombing civilians and rebels fighting to oust him from power.
A British diplomat at the U.N. stressed Monday that the resolution is being prepared as a contingency in case it is needed, but no decision has been made to introduce it at the U.N. Security Council.
Pressure for the no-fly zone appears to be intensifying after Gadhafi's regime unleashed its air power on the poorly equipped and poorly organized rebel force trying to oust their ruler of 41 years.
The heavy use of air power on Sunday - and again on Monday - signaled the regime's concern that it needed to check the advance of the rebel force toward the city of Sirte, Gadhafi's hometown and stronghold which lies on the main road to the capital, Tripoli.
Libya's U.N. ambassador and his deputy have urged the council to impose a no-fly zone to prevent Gadhafi's forces from bombing civilians. Rebel fighters have also urged its establishment, saying they can take on Gadhafi's elite ground forces, but are outgunned if he uses his air power.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague told the House of Commons Monday that "NATO has been tasked to work on a range of options, including the possible establishment of a no-fly zone."
"At the U.N. Security Council, we are working closely with partners on a contingency basis on elements of a resolution on a no-fly zone, making clear the need for regional support, a clear trigger for such a resolution and an appropriate legal basis," Hague said.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Saturday before leaving for Cairo that "we are currently working in New York with the British to achieve a resolution of the U.N. Security Council creating a no-fly zone in order to prevent bombings."
A French diplomat at the U.N. said ideas for a resolution must be discussed with the entire 15-member Security Council before a proposal is drafted. The French and British diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions are taking place in private.
We are evaluating all the options to be able to face the evolution of the situation on the ground," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said. "We are conducting this work in close coordination with all our partners, the countries concerned and all the international and regional (forums)."
Valero said Monday that Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa told Juppe at their meeting in Cairo on Sunday that the 22-member Arab group supports a no-fly zone.
But Arab League spokesman Hesham Youssef told AP on Monday that the organization did offer not blanket support.
He said a no-fly zone "is something we do not object to" but he stressed that any such measures must have Security Council authorization.
"So we will not be supporting any unilateral action, and we do not tolerate foreign interference in the internal affairs of Libya," Youssef said.
Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, who heads the interim National Council set up by the opposition in Benghazi, has met with delegations from European countries and discussed possibilities for a no-fly zone or Western airstrikes on bases from which attacks are launched, an opposition official close to the council said Monday. He did not say where the discussions stood and would not specify which European countries sent delegations.
Security Council authorization is not required to impose a no-fly zone but many countries say it is essential to give the military action legal authorization from the U.N.'s most powerful body.
A no-fly resolution is likely to face opposition from Russia, and possibly China.
Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the idea of imposing limits on Libyan air space as "superfluous" and said world powers must instead focus on fully using the arms embargo, travel ban and asset freeze approved by the Security Council on Feb. 26.
Russia's NATO ambassador Dmitry Rogozin also warned that "a ban on the national air force or civil aviation to fly over their own territory is still a serious interference into the domestic affairs of another country, and at any rate it requires a resolution of the U.N. Security Council."
U.S. President Barack Obama has made clear that all options are on the table, including a no-fly zone, but U.S. officials have also stressed that any military action must be an international effort. Several U.S. senators, including John McCain, have called on the Obama administration to support a no-fly zone.
But U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned last week that imposing a no-fly zone would amount to an act of war because "a no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya" to destroy its air defenses. He also cautioned that an attack on Libya could drag the U.S. military into another conflict, even as nearly 150,000 troops continue to battle in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Western diplomats have also cited difficulties in having enough aircraft and bases to police a no-fly zone effectively.
As Libya appeared to be sliding toward civil war and a humanitarian crisis continued along its borders with Egypt and Tunisia, European leaders appeared to be renouncing previous policies and struggling to come up with new ones - fast.
Chief among the unresolved questions are whether Europe might use force to try to stop the violence, and whether it would give diplomatic recognition - or even money or other aid - to the Libyan rebels.
"There is no fixed position, really," a European Union official said late Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity because consultations have been private.
European leaders, in crisis mode, hope there will be one by the end of the week.
NATO defense ministers will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday. European Union foreign ministers will meet for two days in Budapest Friday and Saturday. And EU heads of government have been called to a special session in Brussels on Friday to discuss Libya.
Among those apparently pirouetting Monday was NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
He had downplayed the possibility of any NATO action in Libya previously. But on Monday he said NATO and the international community could not "stand idly by" if Libyan government forces continued attacking civilians.
Among the European countries finding themselves in difficult diplomatic positions are Germany and Belgium, who sold Gadhafi weapons that he has used against his own people, and Britain whose former prime minister, Tony Blair, was referred to as "a personal family friend" by one of Gadhafi's sons.
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Associated Press Writers Don Melvin and Slobodan Lekic in Brussels and Hadeel al-Shalchi in Cairo contributed to this report.
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