By DPA,
Washington/Brussels : NATO has agreed to take over enforcement of the no-fly zone over Libya, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced on US broadcaster CNN late Thursday.
But the Western military alliance would not be responsible for striking Libyan ground forces to prevent attacks on civilians, Rasmussen said. That means there would effectively be two military commands for the time being unless politicians can agree to give NATO broader oversight of the mission.
“NATO will enforce the no-fly zone. We are considering whether NATO should take on that broader responsibility (to protect civilians) but that decision has not been made yet,” Rasmussen told CNN.
Rasmussen said NATO would take command of enforcing the no-fly zone “in the coming days” from the US, which has been leading the military action launched Saturday to stop Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s regime from killing anti-government forces and civilians.
“We’re taking action as part of the broad international effort to protect the civilians against the attacks by the Gaddafi regime,” Rasmussen told CNN.
Rasmussen said NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, US Admiral James Stavridis, would take overall command of the mission.