yo bruvs, these people came ova here (qataris) like they are in trocadero or perhaps they thought they r in the himalayas or something, can't get in their mindset, and demanded they refuel. and they complaint. lol the next thing they gona say or think that is logical , maybe they think that we should bend over aswell...you know its international conventions. no complaints then haha . doesn't work that way, you get what you pay for. atm they don't pay much, and they seem to entertain it

They should have re-fueled at Ercan instead - gas is surely cheaper, airport staff more understanding....How's this comment going to add to the 92 comments already posted!

@ Lefkosiatis. "Despotic Rulers".

Tell us which one of those would have the audacity to shoot and kill a policewoman in the middle of London and blow up a 'plane over Scotland killing more than 100 innocent opeople, all just for fun ?!
Gahdaffi it a MADMAN and if he had a nuclear weapon I am sure he would fire it into some country just to see the atomic mushroom rising.
THAT MONSTER of a person MUST be removed, prferably in a "Burial-Sheet" as he is a danger not just to his people but to human kind !

ekatalavete kopellia... emiristikan oti i kypros en stin proedria to 12 je en nas mas ta prisun pale. oi en ekamame etsi, en ekame allospos, en eshipsete je na ta katevasete tellia na sas ga..ome naneta, na me exoun parapono. Na erkute aneta.

irtan oi kirioi pu to qatar eprepe na tus kamnume ttemena, je na tus filume je ta podkia tus en na mas pun koma llion, tze oi alloi exoun tes vasis dorean, eplironoun kastano tze exoun mou tze apetiseis. ekatalaves. Erkete o kathe pellloooo arabis pu ton g*oshisto je thelei na ton spitonoume na ton plieronoume na tu kamnume aera, na ton valoume je se ksenodoxeio 5 asteron, je na tu dioume je 4-5 kyprees na pernoun tin nyxta tus.

eto i apantisi tu pellou en to nai.. nai nai ypostirizume tin stasi sas tuti nai nai nai... tze g tus emeis me tropo. en na arkepsun na mas ta prisun en ekamete etsi , en ekamete allospos, eppese llio o diktis , en eshipsete tellia.. ekatalavete... na leme nai nai, en kalitera! hahaha

Respecting UN resolutions was always our main concern.
In this occasion that Arab countries are also involved and support the war to unseat Gaddafi,an arabic sentiment against us which may have a negative effect on our political problem,in actual fact such possibility does not exist,therefore,such reservations are unfounded.
A reference,every now and then,on the British Bases use,is only to remind the International Community that their status for us is in doubt as long as Britain as guarantor of our independence failed its obligations.
A full scale war in Lybia should be avoided and give chance to opposing forces to come to a cease fire first and after sit down for a compromised solution but primarily on the agenda should be the democratization of the country.In future elections,the leaders of all factions can participate.

Cyprus is right to stay out of the war, which risks being Iraq 2.

As Akrotiri is an RAF base, the RoC can legitimately wash its hands of the whole affair.

I am suprised Britain didn't use Akrotiri: the fact it didn't does suggest it is reasonably sensitive to local concerns.

I am generally pro-RAF Akrotiri as it does underline Cyprus' strategic position with a wider context even if Cyprus as a country takes a neutral stand.

And certainly the RAF ought to think about basing VC-1O, a Sentry and a TriStar permently at Akrotiri. The RAF is I think (?) the largest RAF base in the world, so making it a hub for non-combat aircraft at least should be a no-brainer.

Dear all,

The position of the Republic of Cyprus is fully supportive to the U.N and E.U. There are no doubts regarding this. Our government and Greece do support this E.U decision.

At the moment the bases in Akrotiri ARE actively used for surveilance.

But, the Republic of Cyprus determined and adviced accordingly that these bases in Akrotiri will not be used for military action, on this occasion.

the reason is the safety of the people living in Akrotiri and surrounding counties and their concerns expressed about possible counter-effects to their health.

Jimmy:

C-17:

With a payload of 160,000 lb (72,600 kg) and an initial cruise altitude of 28,000 ft (8,500 m), the C-17 has an unrefueled range of about 2,400 nautical miles (4,400 km) on the first 71 aircraft, and 2,800 nautical miles (5,200 km) on all subsequent extended-range models that include sealed center wing bay as a fuel tank. Boeing informally calls these planes the C-17 ER.

Mirage 2000:

In 1994, Qatar ordered nine single-seat Mirage 2000-5EDAs and three Mirage 2000-5DDA trainers, with initial deliveries starting in 1997.

Performance

Maximum speed: Mach 2.2 (2,530+ km/h, 1,500+ mph) at high altitude/ 1,110 km/h (690 mph) at low altitude
Range: 1,550 km (837 nmi, 963 mi) with drop tanks
Ferry range: 3,335 km (1,800 nmi, 2,073 mi) with auxiliary fuel
Service ceiling: 17,060 m (59,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 285 m/s (56,000 ft/min)
Wing loading: 337 kg/m² (69 lb/ft²)
Thrust/weight: 0.91

Radar Doppler Multitarget (RDY in its French acronym) is a multimode fire-control radar that was originally designed for the Mirage 2000-5 fighter by Thales.

[edit] ServiceRDY is the standard fit on the Mirage 2000-5,-5Mk2 (enhanced RDY) and -9 (enhanced RDY) aircraft and has been retrofitted aboard 37 French Air Force Mirage 2000Cs (aircraft to Mirage 2000-5F standard; 11 aircraft redelivered during 1998, 22 during 1999), 25 Greek Mirage 2000EG and 62 United Arab Emirates' Mirage 2000EAD/DADs. Other identified offshore customers for the Mirage 2000-5 comprise Qatar (Mirage 2000-5EDA and -5DDA aircraft) and Taiwan (Mirage 2000-5Ei and -5Di aircraft).

Qatar

2000-5EDA Single-seat fighter 9

2000-5DDA Two-seat trainer 3

Total 12

Jimmy:

Using you figures, at least the Mirages could have made it directly to Crete.

As for the C-17 it says that is long haul, which means much grater distances than Qatar-Cyprus.

I am missing something?

Jimmy McNulty - get well soon!

well, i think the figures include drop tanks, coz i doubt an aircraft the size of the mirage 2000 (its a small plane) can have a range like that on internal fuel...but i'm not sure, but u can google it...as for the distance..just add the 800 km or so to the distance of qatar n cyprus.

Jimmy:

Obviously you need to rest.

But what about the direct distance between Qatar and Crete?

And how about those additional external fuel tanks? By how much do you think they boost operational range?

logic triumphs yet again, though please forgive me spelling, jimmy not well (cough cough)

dear ermeris...

to calm your paranoid fears, and as i'm currently bed wridden with the flu, i took the time to find the distance from qatar to cyprus and the max range of the mirage 2000...it took me about a minute.

mirage 2000 max range = 3335km.
shortest distance between the two countries is 2017 km.

distance from larnaca to crete is around 810 km.

please take into consideration that that is the shortest distance, and the qatari's would need permission from all teh countries in between here and qatar to fly through their airspace. that might not have been the case here, especailly if the shortest route involves flying through israel, and if the places are flying against the wind, then the engines need to produce more power making them less fuel efficient.

phew!

And we also support political parties in the U.K, France which are against this decision for a war in the middle east.

Burak Bekdil (one of my favorite Turks) puts it this way:

Apparently, “Turkey’s rising diplomatic voice in the Middle East” could not be heard in the face of thundering raids on Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s Libya. Resolution 1973 meant that Turkey was a “watcher,” not a game-changer its foreign minister often claims it is. Tomahawks over the Libyan skies meant that Turkey is an outsider, not the useful mediator that pops up in every troubled corner of the world, especially the Middle East. It looks like the couple of bombs and missiles on Libyan targets may have also hit Turkey’s stealth campaign for new “Third Worldism.”

Mr. Davutoğlu may, naturally, have ignored (or, speaking more realistically, may have been totally unaware of) this columnist’s advice for a more realistic doctrine that is more proportionate with Turkey’s influence and its regional and/or global ambitions. But he certainly has been on a path which this column tagged last May as the “unofficial Non-Aligned Movement of the 21st century:” “It could be a good idea to make the unofficial Non-Aligned Movement an official one. I suggest eligible members could be Iran, Turkey, Venezuela, Bolivia, Palestine, Sudan, Syria and North Korea – with Brazil maintaining a part-time, energy-specific seat, and Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban and the Moro National Liberation Front having observer status.”

The big players of the past century sorting out the Libyan crisis in the way they think is most appropriate seals the defeat of Mr. Davutoğlu’s doctrine that “we have to clean up our own backyard because otherwise major powers will get involved.”

This official manifestation of the unofficial non-aligned spirit or of the new Third Worldism has obviously been defeated. It must be a sad day for Mr. Davutoğlu whose Strategic Depth was pillared by the idea of “warding off major powers from our backyard.” Now they are at our backyard with their fighter planes and warplanes and bombs and rockets.

Apparently, Turkey's Third Worldism appeared in the shape of bizarre zig-zagging in the Libyan case: In Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's words, Ankara, in a span of three weeks, has journeyed from "opposition to any military intervention including a no-fly zone" into "can we in any way help you in your military campaign?"

And most recently, we have learned that Turkey will serve as a "protecting power" for the United States in Libya, a self-tasked mission with duties like representing the U.S. in Libya including acting as consular officers on behalf of U.S. citizens in Libya and passing messages between the United States and Libya. Levent Şahinkaya, the Turkish ambassador to Tripoli, told CNN that he will represent America in Libya along with the United Kingdom and Italy.

Meanwhile, Ankara complains that French President Nicolas Sarkozy is "making a show" by spearheading the coalition's military campaign against Libya. Indeed, it may be a show. But the trouble for Ankara is not the "show" part. The trouble, rather, is the fact that the show is not a Turkish one. And that's so saddening!

Oil interests all countries making up the coalition forces & all civilized countries in the world.

Whoever guessed this correctly earns the "Captain Obvious" award of the day.

And those who say "it's all about oil", well... congratulations, you earn the "I am Mr. Over Simplification" award of the day.

case a) Sometimes, to achieve my interest, I need to harm your interests.
case b) Sometimes, achieving my interest will have no impact on your interests.
case c) Sometimes, my interests are aligned with your interests.

The Coalition forces say would say that Libya is case c.

If anyone here can make a case arguing against case c, then go for it.

And for those who accept that Libya is case c and are still against intervention, then you are advocating against the rule “two wrongs don’t make a right”.

Lefkosiatis:

Personally I think that the "Oil argument" is flawed.

Let me put it like this.

Libyan Oil revenue was not going to Libyan people for the last 40 years. It was going to Kadafi's bank account and those of his entourage.

So to say that the allied strike is about oil is kind of laughable.

How can the people of Libya be worse off if the opposition to Kadafi prevails?

This is not about Oil. This is about the people of Libya getting a fair share of their national treasure which at the moment happens to be a personal treasure not shared with them.

It's the symbolic significance of Qatar's contribution that matters.

Alex Jones and his (myriad) partners in conspiracy, for this particular event in history, will not be able to make highly elaborate documentaries about how the "west went on a crusade against people it had no business crusading against but oil" without being open to easy criticsm.

Even if the Qatari war planes are sidelined for the whole campaign, at least the morale support is there. And that's what matters to the coalition.

Sq13RAF:

In such case the refueling needs to be done in Souda or an Italian base not Cyprus.

You talk of imminent atatck yet these planes carry no weapons.

Shouldn't you get refueled when all of your weapons are attached and as close as possible to the theater of operations?

Is the Qatari airforce a real contributor here or some circus on the road advertising campaign?

Antonis:

You said that the article cited "high winds" as the source of fuel consumption.

But the article also says that the two planes were fitted with external fuel tanks (thus boosting the operation range) and that they had no payloads(which akes them lighter and thus more fuel efficient).

I ask again:

What kind of a joke is this to have three planes from Qatar, fully capable of reaching Souda Base in Crete, to have their pilots lie that they were running low on fuel?

Who verified that they were running low on fuel?

And what logic is this that in Qatar, where one has abundant and low price fuel, not fill up your tanks but fly in Cyprus instead (an energy challenged island where fuel prices are higher than normal) to refuel?

@ Bono

Sensationalism at its best!

@Mike and REWR
You are both right,this is just the beginning...if you have time I recommend the link below...it was produced in 2009,a good insight on what is ahead.
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/witness/2009/09/2009910121135544...

IF I was racist I would say, "keep out of it !, and let them kill each other off, the fewer Arabs the world has, the better" ..............BUT I am NOT a RACIST !!!
I feel deeply for the plight of the civilians in Lybia, and think that all possible actions, within reason, are correct to protect the innocent.
As for fighter-jets refulling in Larnaka AP. Why can't they refill over the sea air-to-air ? Or at one of the British Bases ?
If Cyprus continues to refuse to join/assist the U.N., in it's plans, then don't expect help from them if trouble with the North/Turkey flares up on Cyprus.
YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS !

@ Mike. Re Mugabe - simple answer the Pan African Congress is against ANY action against Mugabe. Just as it is against any action against Liyia.

@ Dave the impaler - just for once can you drop the Greece- Turkey thing?
incidentally Greeks are demonstrating against NATO aircraft using bases there. And how many of those Greek Mirages are taking part in the no fly zone?

The Actions of the Cyprus government send yet another clear signal to their fellow EU members and UN..and reinforce NATOs view.

I suspect its more like President Chris refused, got his ear twisted by either Athens/London/Washington and made a miraculous u turn and behaved himself ...sounds like a shambles on our part whatever it was.

Mike,

Everyone is looking after their own interests & particularly the most short term and most direct interests. This is understandable.

For example, how does firing a patriot missile help the patiants & hospital staff in England? There are no immidiate or direct benefits. I'm with you on this.

But at the same time, it's not smart politics to deny that greater interests are a reality of politics.

A pacifist nation with only libertarian policies is a regression in politics thinking & a regression in economic thinking.

Nice plane the Mirage 2000. Greece has about 40 of them. Used mainly in seeking out and chasing Turkish F-16's away from Greek airspace.

Wonder if they charged them double for the fuel?

Pristina:

Come again?

What are you smoking?

As Cypriot, I accept and agree with the action of the President to refuse participation in the Libyan No-Fly Zone, as this serves the strategic interests of the Republic.

At the same time, I privately fully knowledge the need for the imposition of a no fly zone. And I applaud the international coalition for their effort to avert what could've otherwise ended up being humanitarian disaster and a genocide of the Libyan people in Benghazi.

At the same time, I applaud the Qatari representatives for standing against public acts of brutality against unarmed civilians (as declared by Muammar Gaddafi on state TV). I applaud Qatar for providing crucial arab support to the coalition.

John:

Because....

Hold on a minute.

If the final destination is Crete, how come the planes run out of fuel?

What is the range of these planes? You mean to say that they couldn't fly direct to Souda, but had to get off course to Cyprus?

Did they start the flight from Qatar with a quarter tank full?

Something here does not make any sense.