London, March 29: British Defense Secretary Liam Fox has reacted to media reports that he has been “frozen out” of the decisions made in the Whitehall on the military intervention in Libya.
Fox also insisted that there has been no fallout over the issue between him and General Sir David Richards, the Chief of the Defence Staff.
British media earlier reported that Fox has been marginalized in Prime Minister David Cameron’s ‘Libya War Cabinet’ and that General Richards regards him as a ‘light weight’ and prefers to consult directly with Cameron.
Fox, however, was keen to dismiss any reports that he is playing a minor role in leading the Libya campaign as “tittle-tattle”, saying he is working very closely with Cameron.
“Some of us are more concerned at actually what’s happening in Libya, what’s happening in Afghanistan, the problems in the Yemen, how we look after our armed forces more than media tittle-tattle,” Fox told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show.
“If what I read in the papers is true this morning, I must’ve been imagining all these meetings I’ve been at in the last three weeks and the phone calls late at night, including from the Prime Minister,” he insisted.
Fox, who earlier triggered controversy in the Downing Street by implying that the recent UN Security Council resolution on Libya allows direct targeting of Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, also rejected suggestions of arming Libyan revolutionaries, describing them as “rebel.”
Dozens of civilians have been killed in Libya since US-led forces launched aerial and sea attacks on the North African country.
Moreover, Libyan troops have also killed thousands of civilians since the revolution started against Colonel Gaddafi in mid-February.
——–Agencies