German joy at Gaddafi's end embarrassing

Germany's abstention in the decisive UN Security Council vote on a no-fly zone over Libya will damage the country politically, writes the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: "Germany of all countries, which has never stopped casting itself as an advocate of European defence, denied its solidarity to the countries that are indispensable for this goal. It did so with sham arguments, motivated principally by domestic politics. That will do lasting harm to Berlin's credibility on matters of security policy. The foreign minister's explanation that Germany didn't want to send ground troops was no more than a lame excuse from the start. Neither did the British or the French, to say nothing of the Americans. The ostentatious rejoicing over the rebels' victory is therefore all the more embarrassing."

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