NATO to police Libya No-fly zone

NATO to police Libya No-fly zone

NATO’s Secretary-General, Anders Rasmussen has said that NATO countries have agreed to enforce a no-fly zone in Libya "to protect civilians" against Muammar Gaddafi's forces.

During a press conference in Brussels, Rasmussen said that the military alliance's mandate did not go beyond the no-fly zone, but that NATO could act in self-defence.

He appeared to contradict an earlier statement by Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, that NATO would take command of all coalition military operations in Libya.

"At this moment, there will still be a coalition operation and a NATO operation. But we are considering whether NATO should take on that broader responsibility in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution, but that decision has not been made yet," he said.

Broader campaign

NATO officials said that talks to unite both missions and transfer control of the broader campaign to NATO would continue through the weekend with a decision expected by Monday.

Until then, the bombing campaign against Gaddafi's tanks and artillery, which kicked off six days ago, will stay in the hands of the coalition led by the United States, Britain and France.

Rasmussen's announcement followed days of negotiations and a breakthrough when Turkey agreed to back the plan.

Agreement from all 28 members of NATO is required to back any agreement, and Turkey had previously rejected backing any plan unless it was given assurances that the operation would be limited to protecting civilians, enforcing an arms embargo and a no-fly zone, and providing humanitarian aid.

Transfer of command

After the announcement of the agreement, US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, declared that the US was taking the next step in military operations against Libya by transferring command and control of the no-fly zone to NATO.

Several key allies, including Britain and Italy, have pushed for the alliance to run the show.

Navy Vice Admiral William Gortney told newsmen at the Pentagon that the US will continue to fly combat missions as needed, but its role will mainly be in support missions such as refueling allied planes and providing aerial surveillance of Libya.

Clinton said NATO had agreed to protect Libyan civilians, enforce the UN arms embargo on the North African country and support humanitarian aid efforts there.

She also said all members of the alliance had authorised military authorities to develop an operations plan for NATO to take on the broader civilian protection mission under resolution 1973.

She said the coalition action had made "significant" progress in Libya.

"Gaddafi's troops have been pushed back, but they remain a serious threat to the safety of the Libyan people,” she said.

Strategic military operations

She also commended the United Arab Emirates for becoming the second Arab country after Qatar to send planes to help the mission. The UAE will deploy 12 planes, according to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Clinton said she will travel to London next week to coordinate the strategy and military operation against Gaddafi's regime.

No compliance -Gaddafi

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said there were no signs that Gaddafi's government was complying with UN Security Council demands for an immediate cease-fire.

"There is no evidence that Libyan authorities have taken steps to carry out their obligations under resolutions 1970 or 1973," Ban told the Security Council on Thursday, during a briefing to update them on the operation.

He was referring to two council resolutions; the first called an immediate end to hostilities, the second imposed a no-fly zone over the country and gave member states sweeping powers to protect civilians in Libya.

Ban said that his special envoy to Libya, former Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdelilah Al-Khatib, had personally warned Gaddafi's government that the council may take further steps if Libya did not comply with resolution 1973.

He said that the military operations in Libya were not aimed at regime change, but solely to protect civilians.
Council members discussed the crisis in Libya behind closed doors but took no action.

Around 336,000 people have fled Libya since the beginning of the crisis, he said, adding that the UN had contingency plans to deal with as many as 250,000 new refugees.

Al Jazeera/Margaret