NATO will assume command of all aerial operations — including ground attacks — in Libya from the U.S.-led force that has been conducting air strikes against Mormmar Khadafy’s forces.
Ambassadors on Sunday approved a plan to expand the previously agreed mission to enforce the U.N. arms embargo and no-fly zone by agreeing to protect civilians from attack by Khadafy’s ground forces, a diplomat said
After eight days of strikes on Libyan targets, Washington is eager to quickly hand off responsibility for air strikes to the alliance.
The diplomat who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the transfer of authority from the U.S.-led force may take a several days.
Meanwhile, jubilant rebel forces marching rapidly westward toward Tripoli set their sights Sunday on Col. Moamar Ghadafi’s hometown stronghold of Sirte after seizing two more key oil towns on their renewed military drive.
Anti-aircraft fire and a number of explosions were heard in the Libyan capital Tripoli Sunday night.
The development came after loud explosions were heard in the city of Sirte as planes flew overhead, an AFP reporter said.
Following their military successes, made possible by a week of coalition airstrikes, a confident rebel leadership in Benghazi said they planned to resume oil exports “in less than a week.”
“We are producing about 100,000 to 130,000 barrels a day. We can easily up that to about 300,000 a day,” Ali Tarhoni, the rebel representative responsible for the economy, finance and oil, told AFP.
In the latest military operations, French warplanes Sunday carried out strikes on Libyan armored vehicles and a “major munitions depot” in the western Misrata and Zintan regions, French military headquarters said.
But with NATO officially taking control of no-fly zone operations according to the Canadian general in charge, the question of how long it would continue was far from resolved.
Asked on ABC’s “This Week” whether he expected the American military mission in Libya to be over by year’s end, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday, “I don’t think anybody knows the answer to that.”
He also suggested on another talk show that “one should not underestimate the possibility of the regime itself cracking.” And as for Ghadafi himself, he joked, “I wouldn’t be hanging any new pictures if I were him.”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who also made the Sunday talk show rounds, maintained, “We’re beginning to see, because of the good work of the coalition, his troops begin to turn back toward the west — and to see the opposition begin to reclaim the ground they had lost.”
In the last several days, the rebels have taken the coastal oil town of Ajdabiya, then seized control of Brega and Ras Lanuf, a major oil exporting terminal. Ghadafi’s hometown of Sirte was firmly in their sights another 60 miles (100 kilometers) down the road — and, with many of his troops based there, expected to be the next major battle.
In the hamlet of Bin Jawad, exultant rebels stuck up a poster of Ghadafi and took potshots at it with automatic rifles as a green Libyan regime flag burned and a group of about 100 chanted, “Moamar, you’re a dog,” AFP reported.
“Ghadafi’s forces are now scared rats,” said Mohammed Ali el-Atwish, a bearded 42-year-old fighter. “They are dropping their weapons and uniforms and dressing as civilians. We are no longer concerned about Ghadafi’s forces at all.”
Al Jazeera reported that Ghadafi forces in Bin Jawad had surrendered without a fight.
Meanwhile, Charles Bouchard, the Canadian general in charge of NATO operations in Libya, said Sunday the alliance has begun to “execute the no-fly zone operations” as well as imposing a naval arms embargo.
A three-month military plan, expected to be agreed Sunday, does not call for NATO to intervene in support of the insurgents.
“NATO will always remain impartial. NATO does not take sides. The goal is to stop any potential danger for the population, in line with the UN Security Council resolution,” one diplomat, who asked not to be identified, told AFP.
But with Ghadafi’s forces pulling back under international air strikes, it was reported Sunday that plans were being drawn up to arm the rebels.
“People are looking at arming the rebels, whether that’s by us or by other states,” a senior UK government source told The (London) Sunday Times. “If you want to improve the effectiveness of the rebels, then as well as pummeling Ghadafi’s forces from the air when they threaten civilians, they could benefit from better and more modern weaponry.”
However, MI6, the British secret intelligence service, apparently warned lawmakers that the move was risky, with the opposition in Libya described as “fractured” and with some fringe rebel groups having ties to terror group al Qaeda.
With AP