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| Africa North | ||
| NATO to wind down in Libya over 10 days | ||
| 2011-10-22 | ||
| BRUSSELS: NATO said Friday it plans to end its seven-month bombing campaign in Libya at the end of the month, leaving the battle-scarred countryÂ’s new authorities on their own to ensure security after the death of Muammar Qaddafi and the ouster of his regime. The alliance made a preliminary decision to end the campaign on Oct. 31 and will make the formal decision next week, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said after a meeting of the allianceÂ’s governing body, the North Atlantic Council. Diplomats said NATO air patrols are set to continue over Libya in the next 10 days as a precautionary measure to ensure the stability of the new regime. They will gradually be reduced in coming days if there are no further outbreaks of violence.
Fogh Rasmussen said NATO had no intention of leaving any residual force in or near Libya. “We expect to close down the operation.” NATO earlier said its commanders were not aware that Qaddafi was in a convoy that NATO bombed as it fled Sirte. In a statement Friday, the alliance said an initial Thursday morning strike was aimed at a convoy of approximately 75 armed vehicles leaving Sirte, the Libyan city defended by Qaddafi loyalists. One vehicle was destroyed, which resulted in the convoy’s dispersal. Another jet then engaged approximately 20 vehicles that were driving at great speed toward the south, destroying or damaging about 10 of them. “We later learned from open sources and allied intelligence that Qaddafi was in the convoy and that the strike likely contributed to his capture,” the statement said. Intelligence gleaned during surveillance flights around Sirte on Thursday indicated that a “command and control group, including senior military leaders” were attempting to flee from the town, British Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokesman Steve Field said. “There was a strike, there was damage to the convoy, the Free Libya Fighters then moved in — as to what happened next that is not entirely clear,” he said.
The daily airstrikes finally broke the stalemate that developed after Qaddafi’s initial attempts failed to crush the rebellion that broke out in February. In August, the rebels began advancing on Tripoli, with the NATO warplanes providing close air support and destroying any attempts by the defenders to block them. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said earlier Friday that “the operation has reached its end.” But in London, Britain had suggested that NATO may not immediately complete its mission in Libya, wary over the potential reprisal attacks by remaining Qaddafi loyalists. | ||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 "So long! Au revoir! Cheerio! Pay no attention to all those armed men with the long beards and fanatical stares!" |
| Posted by: Pappy 2011-10-22 12:30 |
| #1 Hmmm, forgot about Afganistan damn quickly, Didn't ya? |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2011-10-22 00:15 |