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Above: Fighter yet that got shot down

French military jets are preventing forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi from attacking the rebel-held city of Benghazi, French President Nicolas Sarkozy says.

It is reckoned to be the first act of intervention since the UN voted on Thursday for a no-fly zone over Libya.

Western and Arab leaders have been meeting in Paris to agree about plan to confront Gaddafi.

"Our air force will oppose any aggression," Sarkozy said.

Earlier, Gaddafi's forces attacked on the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi, journalist witnessed.

Still, The Libyan government has denied it is attacking.

'Stop the bombardment'
French reconnaissance jets are looking out targets in Libya. It's assumed that, there's special forces on the ground as well, estimating potential targets.

Enforcing this UN decision is very complicated - There may be about 100 planes involved - so once you start to enforcing no-fly zone, you need to enforce it 24 hours a day to guarantee that Libyan jets won't get up in the air.

British jets will be executing many tasks, with RAF aiming at targets on the ground, Typhoons performing air-to-air sorties, and Awacs planes helping with mapping the ground and reconnaissance.

The assumption is that many of the operation will be based in southern Italy and the Mediterranean.

French aircraft have also flown over "all Libyan territory" on reconnaissance missions, French military sources said earlier.

The French jets took off from their base at Saint-Dizier in eastern France, a source told the Agence France-Presse news agency.

The planes didn't encountered problems during the first few hours, the source said, and the flights would continue for the next several hours.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told journalists at the summit in Paris that he believed British, French and Canadian aircraft would launch the first airstrikes.

Asked if strikes would occur later on Saturday, Rutte admitted that was a possibility.

'Anguished appeal'
The new UN resolution authorises "all necessary measures" to protect Libyan civilians.

The international community was intervening to stop the "murderous madness" of Gaddafi, Sarkozy said.

"In Libya, the civilian population, which is only demanding right to choose their own destiny, is in fatal danger," he warned. "It is our duty to respond to their anguished request."

The rebels' leader had earlier requested international community to stop the bombardment by Gaddafi's forces.

A jet also appears to have been shot down over Benghazi. A rebel spokesman was quoted as saying the downed jet was a rebel plane which had been shot down by pro-government forces.

Reports from Benghazi suggest that hundreds of cars packed with people were fleeing eastwards as fighting spreads.

The United Nations refugee agency says it is preparing to receive 200,000 people fleeing the fighting, among reports of hundreds of cars full of people heading for the Egyptian border, while others are attempting to flee on foot.

The first families had arrived at the Egyptian border, very frightened and traumatised, saying that some of their homes have been completely flattened.

However, journalists says that so far there are a handful of families, in addition to the migrant workers who have been there since the revolts started.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said the world must "speak with one voice" on Libya.

Update:


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Above: Map of Benghazi, stronghold of rebels

P.S This isn't Copy & Pate, I edited and shortened it, so please don't flame for Copy pasting
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If the UN and the French learned anything from Kosovo they wouldn't be doing this

thats what that bitchhhhh alien gaddafu gets for violating freedom of speech, why dont they just bomb the cunnnnt

Still think all nations in the UN should be doing this not just a couple
That my view not a show of force if only some nations are doing it.

Have a feeling troops be on the group within a couple weeks.

Thread updated.

Glad to see promises are being kept. I can't wait to see the outcome of this revolt.

He haven't updated it in two days.