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Defence chiefs contradict Liam Fox by stating specifically that they do not regard Colonel Gaddafi as a target
Britain's defence chiefs are deeply concerned about the government's handling of the Libyan crisis, and in particular whether coalition forces can consider Colonel Gaddafi a legitimate target, military sources have made clear.
The Chief of the Defence staff, Gen Sir David Richards, went out of his way to insist Gaddafi was "absolutely not" a target for military action. Speaking after a meeting in Downing Street, he added: "It's not allowed under the UN resolution and it's not something I want to discuss any further."
Richards said it was crucial not to fall into the "propaganda trap that Colonel Gaddafi is trying to set us".
As argument continued over the nature of targets covered by the UN resolution, Tornado aircraft, now based at the southern Italian airfield of Gioia del Colle, attacked targets for the third successive day.
The targets were described as "dynamic", rather than "static" – soldiers or military convoys judged to be "posing a threat to civilians", officials said. Eurofighter-Typhoon jets, also based in southern Italy, patrolled the skies over Libya for the first time.
Richards intervened in an issue causing increasing disquiet in military circles shortly after William Hague, the foreign secretary, declined to answer whether Gaddafi was a target of British, French, and US bombs and missiles.
One well-placed Whitehall source described the political thinking on targeting Gaddafi as "muddled". He added: "But the thinking in the MoD is not. Defence is clear. Gaddafi is not a target."
Liam Fox, the defence secretary, suggested on Sunday that assassinating Gaddafi was an option. It would "potentially be a possibility" and the Libyan leader could be a "legitimate target", he said. Fox was quickly contradicted by his US counterpart, Robert Gates. "If we start adding additional objectives, we create a problem," he said. "It is unwise to start setting as goals things you may or may not be able to achieve."
Concern among British military commanders reflected the attitude in the Pentagon, which is now distancing itself from the entire operation. Vice-Admiral Bill Gortney, director of the US military's Joint Staff, said Gaddafi was "not on its target list". The head of the US Africa Command, Gen Carter F Ham, went further by saying the aim of the no-fly zone was not to "completely destroy" Gaddafi's military but to hit those defying an international mandate.
Jim Murphy, the shadow defence secretary, joined the dispute by describing Fox's comments as "irresponsible".
He wrote on his blog: "His [Fox's] view that the aim of our military effort is to bring about regime change is outside what is a very broad UN resolution. It is wrong but also counterproductive at a time when we are trying to maintain a broad coalition, including Arab opinion, to talk in such a way."
Officials said privately that political confusion arose out of discussions over whether Gaddafi, who carries a military rank, could be a military target.
At an MoD press conference, Maj Gen John Lorimer, chief spokesman for military operations, emphasised that the targets were "military command-and-control facilities and aspects of integrated air defence systems, including radar and weapons". He added: "They are legitimate military targets."
The description was clearly designed to sound narrow and specific. Lorimer said coalition forces began attacking on Saturday after Gaddafi's continued shelling of Benghazi suburbs. The regime's attacks led to civilian casualties – including children, women, and the elderly – according to rebels opposed to Gaddafi.
Accompanied by a senior RAF and naval officer, Lorimer said an RAF Tornado crew was told to abort its mission because civilians were in the intended target area. The civilians were believed to have been western journalists, defence sources have said.
Lorimer said the accuracy of the Storm Shadow missile carried by the Tornados was "scrupulous". RAF aircraft were equipped with sophisticated missiles, laser-guided bombs, and radar, he said.
An unnamed Trafalgar-class submarine fired Tomahawk cruise missiles for the second consecutive night on Sunday, Lorimer said. The MoD declined to say how many missiles were fired but the submarine can hold only 16 and it had not yet fired them all, defence officials indicated. The US has fired more than 100 Tomahawks.
It is being becoming increasingly clear that, in an attempt to avoid civilian casualties, weapons with a relatively limited impact in terms of area are being used.
For example, it was reported on Monday that US high-flying B2 bombers had dropped as many as 40 bombs on one large Libyan airfield.