NATO mulls when to stop
Source: Agencies |
October 22, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
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NATO'S governing body met yesterday to decide when and how to end the seven-month bombing campaign in Libya, a military operation whose success has helped reinvigorate the Cold War alliance.
A NATO official said commanders were not aware that Moammar Gadhafi was in the convoy that was struck on Thursday in Sirte by missiles fired from a French warplane, and which led to his subsequent death.
"The convoy was a clear military target," said the official who could not be named under standing rules. "We later learned that Gadhafi was in the convoy. Therefore the strike likely contributed to his capture."
After rebels killed Gadhafi, officials said they expected the aerial operation to end very soon. But the North Atlantic Council may decide to keep air patrols flying for several more days until the security situation on the ground stabilizes.
The final decision will depend on the recommendation of Admiral Jim Stavridis, the supreme allied commander, and the Military Committee, the highest military organ.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the end of the campaign "has now moved much closer."
He has hailed the success of the mission, saying that it demonstrated the alliance continues to play an "indispensable" role in confronting security challenges.
NATO warplanes have flown about 26,000 sorties, including over 9,600 strike missions. They destroyed Libya's air defenses and over 1,000 tanks, vehicles and guns, as well as Gadhafi's command and control networks.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told France-Info radio yesterday that the operation seems to be at an end. "We can say that the military operation is over, that all of Libyan territory is under the control of the (interim government)," he said.
A NATO official said commanders were not aware that Moammar Gadhafi was in the convoy that was struck on Thursday in Sirte by missiles fired from a French warplane, and which led to his subsequent death.
"The convoy was a clear military target," said the official who could not be named under standing rules. "We later learned that Gadhafi was in the convoy. Therefore the strike likely contributed to his capture."
After rebels killed Gadhafi, officials said they expected the aerial operation to end very soon. But the North Atlantic Council may decide to keep air patrols flying for several more days until the security situation on the ground stabilizes.
The final decision will depend on the recommendation of Admiral Jim Stavridis, the supreme allied commander, and the Military Committee, the highest military organ.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the end of the campaign "has now moved much closer."
He has hailed the success of the mission, saying that it demonstrated the alliance continues to play an "indispensable" role in confronting security challenges.
NATO warplanes have flown about 26,000 sorties, including over 9,600 strike missions. They destroyed Libya's air defenses and over 1,000 tanks, vehicles and guns, as well as Gadhafi's command and control networks.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told France-Info radio yesterday that the operation seems to be at an end. "We can say that the military operation is over, that all of Libyan territory is under the control of the (interim government)," he said.
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