The U.N. Security Council has voted to authorize a no-fly zone and other military action against the regime of Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi.

The vote was 10 to 0, with five abstentions. The five were China, Russia, Brazil, India and Germany.

Military officials in the U.S., France and Britain had already been planning airstrikes designed to protect civilians and stop the momentum of Kadafi’s forces.

“Each day, each hour, increases the weight on our shoulders,” French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told the council. “We must not wait.”


In Tobruk, Libya, Al Jazeera television broadcast images of fireworks going off in response to the vote.