“President Obama’s decision to participate in the air campaign against … Gaddafi’s regime is a vast improvement over previous policy, a victory for human rights idealists within the administration, and the application of an important international standard known as “the responsibility to protect.”

- Michael Gerson, opinion writer, Washington Post. See his comment here

"This is the greatest opportunity to realign our interests and our values," a senior administration official said at the meeting, telling the experts this sentence came from Obama himself. The president was referring to the broader change going on in the Middle East and the need to rebalance US foreign policy toward a greater focus on democracy and human rights.

See Josh Rigin’s article for Foreign Policy here, on how the US decision came about .

“It was important to the US that Libyans and the world understand that this coalition of the willing was more than a US rhetorical construct.

“An hour before bombing began Saturday, Clinton spoke to the press in Paris. Asked why military action was in America's interest, she gave three reasons and implied a fourth. A destabilizing force would jeopardize progress in Tunisia and Egypt; a humanitarian disaster was imminent unless prevented; Qaddafi could not flout international law without consequences. The fourth: there's a line now, and one that other countries had better not cross.

- Marc Ambinder, White House correspondent for National Journal and a contributing editor at The Atlantic. See his comment here.

“Libya matters to the United States not for its oil or intrinsic importance, but because it has been a key part of the rapidly evolving transformation of the ... world. 

“For Arab protestors and regimes alike, Gaddafi's bloody response to the emerging Libyan protest movement had become a litmus test for the future of the Arab revolution.

“If Gaddafi succeeded in snuffing out the challenge by force without a meaningful response from the United States, Europe and the international community then that would have been interpreted as a green light for all other leaders to employ similar tactics.”

- Marc Lynch, Middle East analyst. See his article in Foreign Policy here.

US President Obama has delivered a tough warning to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. (See full text here).

These are extracts:

"All attacks against civilians must stop. Gaddafi must stop his troops from advancing on Benghazi, pull them back from Ajdabiya, Misrata and Zawiya, and establish water, electricity and gas supplies to all areas.

"Humanitarian assistance must be allowed to reach the people of Libya.

"Let me be clear, these terms are not negotiable.

If Gaddafi does not comply, the international community will impose consequences, and the resolution will be enforced through military action.

"Our goal is focused, our cause is just and our coalition is strong."

As the European Union gets stronger, and national governments get weaker, ethnic groups are demanding more self-determination within a Europe of regions, argues Walter Mayr in the Der Spiegel online.

See his feature here.

“Scots, Catalans, Basques and Corsicans are eagerly following events in Belgium, partly out of curiosity over how the situation will unfold, and partly because the Flemings have managed to force their desire for a separate state onto the political agenda, even though their language was long derided as one spoken only by farmers and maids.”

“Reports of abuse, maltreatment and violence are rife in Immigration detention centres where newborns, children and the elderly languish for months, sometimes years, without any avenue for release.

“In recent years, Immigration Enforcement has taken to moving undocumented arrestees into provincial maximum security holding centres. Many of those held are refugee claimants that have just arrived, whose detention is actually illegal under the Geneva Convention on Refugee Rights.”

- Mohan Mishra and Marika Heinrichs of No One Is Illegal-Toronto. See their article on Canada’s handling of asylum seekers here.

Egypt's military has begun shipping arms over the border to Libyan rebels with Washington's knowledge, US and Libyan rebel officials told the Wall Street Journal.

The Egyptian shipments are the strongest indication to date that some Arab countries are heeding Western calls to take a lead in efforts to intervene on behalf of pro-democracy rebels in their fight against Mummar Gaddafi, the paper said.

"The Americans have given the green light to the Egyptians to help. The Americans don't want to be involved in a direct level, but the Egyptians wouldn't do it if they didn't get the green light."

- Hani Souflakis, the Libyan rebels’ liaison with Egypt’s government

Ten of the UN Security Council's 15 members, including US, UK and France, pictured voting Thursday in favour of resolution 1973 approving "all necessary measures" to protect civilians in Libya from Mummar Gaddafi's forces. Russia, China, Germany, India and Brazil abstained. There were no opposing votes. Photo Devra Berkowitz/UN.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has voted on a resolution authorising a no-fly zone over Libya and "all necessary measures" - code for military action - to protect civilians. The resolution rules out ground troops.

See Al-Jazeera’s report here.

Ten of the council's 15 members, including US, UK and France, voted in favour of the resolution, while Russia, China, Germany, India and Brazil abstained. There were no opposing votes.

Last week, the Arab League called for a no-fly zone to be established in Libya and the resolution, co-authored by Britain and France, was tabled on Tuesday.

UNSC resolution 1973 (2011) calls on member states to

“to take all necessary measures… to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack in [Libya], including Benghazi, while excluding an occupation force.”

Residents of Libya's de facto rebel capital of Benghazi joined in a massive street party to celebrate the UNSC resolution.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said afterwards:

“France is very much involved in this action and has prepared the draft resolution. We have one goal… we want to stop the attacks by the Gaddafi regime against civilian populations.”

US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said:

"Today the Security Council has responded to the Libyan people's cry for help."

Amid reports Britain was preparing for military action, Foreign Secretary William Hague said:

"This places a responsibility on members of the United Nations and that is a responsibility to which the United Kingdom will now respond."

China explained why despite reservations about international military action, it and other countries did not oppose:

"In view of the concerns and stance of the Arab countries and African Union and the special circumstances that currently apply in Libya, China and other countries abstained, and did not block the passing of the resolution," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu, told Reuters.

Meanwhile, India protested that the doubts about international action had not been clarified by UK and France.

Delhi's envoy to UN Hardeep Singh Puri said:

“If countries have doubts...you try to remove them … I'm afraid that the two countries leading the process did not make the required effort."

India also opposed widening sanctions on Libya, saying it could hurt the economic interests of the Libyan people.

But Libya's deputy envoy to the UN dismissed India's objections: The sanctions "[have] nothing to do with the Libyan people," Ibrahim Dabbashi, who last month turned against Muammar Gaddafi, said.

See the Times of India's report here.

Meanwhile, Gaddafi’s response to resolution?

"The UN Security Council has no mandate. We don't acknowledge their resolutions."

Gaddafi, who condemned those rebelling against his 40 year rule as "rats, dogs, hypocrites and traitors", had this to say about France (see Sky News' report here):

"France now raises its head and says that it will strike Libya. We'll be the one who strikes you! We struck you in Algeria, in Vietnam. You want to strike us? Come and give it a try."

Spain must compensate the radical Basque separatist leader Arnaldo Otegi after wrongly sentencing him to jail for insulting King Juan Carlos, the European court of human rights has decided.

See The Guardian’s report here.

The court in Strasbourg ruled that Spain must pay €23,000  in compensation to Otegi for breaching his right to freedom of expression after he accused the Spanish monarch of protecting police torturers.

Otegi's remarks were "made in his capacity as elected member of and spokesperson for a parliamentary group …in the context of the recent closure of the Egunkaria newspaper and the complaint alleging ill-treatment", the judges ruled.

Spanish judges last year threw out a case alleging that Otamendi and other Egunkaria executives had collaborated with Eta. The decision came too late to save Egunkaria.

The United Nations has warned Bahrain that its violent crackdown on anti-government protesters might be breaking international law.

See Al-Jazeera’s report here.

Bahrain’s security forces have fired on pro-democracy protestors and are reported to be preventing doctors from treating the injured.

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon called King Hamad on Thursday to express his "deepest concern" about Bahrain's use of force,

On Wednesday US President Obama called King Hamad and Saudi King to also express “deep concern” and urge “maximum restraint.”

UN rights chief Navi Pillay said any takeover by the security forces of hospitals and medical facilities was a "blatant violation of international law... This is shocking and illegal conduct".

Saudi Arabia and UAE have sent troops to support Bahrain’s forces. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has criticised the military intervention as “alarming.”

However, the US has not declared support for Bahrain's protestors.

The headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet is located in Bahrain.

France has recognised the Libyan National Council, a rebel body fighting to oust Muammar Gaddafi, as the legitimate representative of Libya's people.

"France recognises the National Council as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people. There will be an exchange of ambassadors between Paris and Benghazi," an official told reporters.

A French diplomatic source told Reuters: "It's a political signal of encouragement and we hope that the European Union will follow suit."

See Reuters’ report here.

An often raised objection to secession as self-determination is what about people on the wrong side of border between two new states.

The answer is blindingly simple, if the two new states behave responsibly.

This is what US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson had to say about today's post-referendum Sudan:

“Controversy over the status of as many as two million southerners in the North and smaller but significant numbers of northerners in the south is another major potential flashpoint that could be greatly diminished if both governments reached agreement on citizenship rights.

“We encourage the North and South to seek ways that guarantee the rights of work, property, residency, and movement for these civilians.

“Actions that might cause people suddenly to become aliens in places where they have established themselves and raised their families will not only be disruptive, but could destroy the mutual trust necessary to accommodate the sovereign needs of each party.”

See the text of his speech to Chatham House on March 7, 2011 here

By way of comparison, this is how the 1976 Vaddukoddai Resolution calling for establshment of an independent Tamil Eelam envisaged the issue:

“The language of R2P refers to state inability or unwillingness as the catalyst for the international responsibility to protect being activated. But often the state itself is the perpetrator of atrocity crimes when security forces, meant to protect people, are instead let loose in a killing spree.”

- Ramesh Thakur, Professor of Political Science, University of Waterloo, was an R2P commissioner and a principal author of its report.

See his comment on the Libyan situation here.

"I felt that the IRA, in the context of Irish history, and Sinn Fein were a legitimate force that had to be recognized and you wouldn't have peace without them ... I [wanted] a peace agreement, a working agreement, where [Northern Ireland’s] nationalist community would feel their rights would be respected. …”

- Peter T. King, chairman of the powerful Committee on Homeland Security of the US Congress, on his long-standing support for the Northern Irish Republican cause.

See The Washington Post’s report here.

“They have no mercy on civilians; the regime is attacking everything indiscriminately.

“There is a very tragic situation in the city. We were expecting the world to intervene but they have let us down.”

- Ahmed, a resident of Az Zawiyah. See Al Jazeera’s report here.