France freezes role in NATO Libya force amid Turkey tensions

PARIS (AP) — France is suspending its involvement in a NATO naval operation of Libya’s coast after a standoff with a Turkish ship and amid growing tensions within the military alliance over Libya. France’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that France sent a letter Tuesday to NATO saying it is suspending its participation in Sea Guardian “temporarily.” France is also calling for crisis mechanism to prevent a repeat of an incident earlier this month between Turkish warships and a French naval vessel in the Mediterranean. NATO is investigating what happened. France has accused Turkey of repeated violations of the U.N. arms embargo on conflict-torn Libya.