German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Monday defended his country's decision in not joining the military actions against Libya, saying it has "good reasons."

"We decided not to participate with German soldiers," Wersterwelle said while arriving for an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels.

"We calculated the risks. We see that three days after the intervention began, the Arab League already criticized the intervention," he said.

"I think we had good reasons," said the minister.

Westerwelle on Sunday warned of a lengthy mission in Libya as the U.S., French, British forces launched bombing attacks on the violence-wracked country to press Moammar Gadhafi to step down.

Tripoli has declared a cease-fire and an immediate halt of all military operations against the rebels after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution Thursday to impose a no-fly zone over Libya and authorized "all necessary measures" to protect civilians under threat of attack.

Meanwhile, Arab League Secretary-General Amre Moussa told reporters that what is happening in Libya is different from what was intended by imposing a no-fly zone.

"What we want is the protection of civilians and not the shelling of more civilians," he said. "Military operations may not be needed in order to protect the civilians."

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