Russian and China start siding with rebels

Although they were initially very reserved in the Libya conflict, Russia and China are becoming increasingly pragmatic, writes the conservative daily Lidové noviny: "In mid-March the Russians and Chinese withheld their votes in the UN Security Council because of the lack of precision in formulating what form the military intervention should take. Now the Russian ambassador has said during a visit to the rebels that Gaddafi lost all legitimacy the first time shots were fired at Libyan citizens. ... Beijing, which had demanded respect for Libya's sovereignty, is now saying that the decision [on the country's future] lies only with the Libyan people. ... A Russian newspaper yesterday called the Libyan conflict a hidden American-Chinese struggle for influence. It would be ironic if this conflict ended in a military victory for the West with a sugar coating of Chinese capital."

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