MOSCOW. May 24 (Interfax) - Civilian deaths caused by NATO airstrikes could have been avoided, Abdel Rahman Shalgam, the head of the Libyan opposition delegation, said.
"Yes, there may have been victims. Yes, we hoped they could be avoided. At any rate, we very much regret this, that people are being killed on both sides [the Gaddafi and opposition sides], since they are all our Libyan people," Shalgam said.
At the same time, NATO troops are in Libya to protect the Libyan people, "and that, in turn, was a decision by the UN SC (United Nations Security Council)," he said.