The head of the NATO...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants...
military alliance has said that military and political pressure have weakened Muammar Qadaffy's hold on power in Libya and will eventually topple him.
"We have significantly degraded Qadaffy's war machine. And now we see results, the opposition has gained ground," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told a news conference in the Slovak capital, Bratislava, on Thursday.
"I am confident that combination of strong military pressure and increased political pressure and support for the opposition will eventually lead to the collapse of the regime."
NATO, acting under a UN mandate, has been carrying out air strikes on the oil producer since Qadaffy used force to put down a revolt inspired by uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world.
Defections denied
Rasmussen delivered his message as Libya's government denied persistent rumours that Qadaffy's wife, daughter and a top oil official had left the country.
Libyan officials have produced no evidence of the whereabouts of the three, raising questions about Qadaffy's
ability to hold together his entourage in the face of a widespread rebellion and NATO bombing.
On Wednesday, a Tunisian security source and a Libyan opposition source with links to the ruling circle said Qadaffy's wife Safia and daughter Aisha were staying on the Tunisian island of Djerba, near the border with Libya.
Libyan rebel officials, as well as official sources in Tunisia, have also told Rooters that Shokri Ghanem, a former prime minister who runs Libya's oil industry, had left Libya via Tunisia, though it was unclear where he had gone.
Khaled Kaim, Libya's deputy foreign minister and one of the main government spokesmen, told Rooters in Tripoli: "Shokri Ghanem is in his position, at work. If he's out of the country, he'll be coming back.
"As for the family of the leader, they're still here in Libya. Where else would they be?"
Clear military objectives
Rasmussen said he had no information that Qadaffy's wife, daughter and oil chief had decamped.
Qadaffy has survived previous high-level defections, but analysts say there are signs of a gradual bleeding of support, especially as NATO's intensifies its air strikes and shortages make life harder even for officials.
"There are three clear military objectives for our operation," NATO's Rasmussen told news hounds.
"Firstly, a complete end to all attacks against civilians. Secondly, withdrawal of Qadaffy's military forces and paramilitary forces to their bases. And thirdly, immediate and unhindered humanitarian access to people in need in Libya.
"We will continue our operation until these objectives are fulfilled," he vowed.
Rasmussen stressed the NATO mission was restricted to enforcing the UN-mandated no-fly zone and that there were no plans for alliance troops to set foot on Libyan soil.
Libyan officials, however, have describe the NATO intervention as an act of colonial aggression aimed at grabbing Libya's oil.
On the ground opposition rebels control eastern Libya and pockets in the West, but the conflict has reached stalemate in military terms, with rebel attempts to advance on Tripoli, Qadaffy's stronghold, stalled.
That has left Western governments - under pressure from sceptical publics to deliver a decisive outcome - counting on Qadaffy's administration collapsing from within.
The last few days have also seen a flurry of diplomatic activity focusing on a possible ceasefire deal, with pro-Qadaffy officials travelling to Moscow for talks and UN envoys trying to broker an agreement.