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Summary US President Barack Obama eventually signed upon the order which supports Libya rebel forces.
US President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorising covert United States government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.President Obama signed the order, known as a presidential finding, within the last two or three weeks, according to government sources familiar with the matter. Such findings are a principal form of presidential directive used to authorise secret operations by the CIA. This is a necessary legal step before such action can take place, but does not mean that it will.While the CIA simply declined to comment upon it. People familiar with US intelligence procedures said that presidential covert action findings are normally crafted to provide broad authorisation for a range of potential US government actions to support a particular covert objective.In 2009, President Obama gave a similar authorisation for the expansion of covert US counter-terrorism actions by the CIA in Yemen. The White House does not normally confirm such orders have been issued. The US is part of a coalition, including NATO, which is conducting air strikes on Libyan government forces under a United Nations mandate aimed at protecting civilians opposing Col Gaddafi.
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