Nato agrees to extend Libya air war for another 90 days



Nato has agreed to extend its Libyan air war by three months and dismissed charges by Col Muammar Gaddafi's regime that the bombing campaign has already killed 718 civilians.


2:34PM BST 01 Jun 2011

Hours after Nato-led aircraft launched new raids on Tripoli, ambassadors of the military alliance meeting in Brussels decided to renew the mission for another 90 days to late September.

"This decision sends a clear message to the Gaddafi regime. We are determined to continue our operation to protect the people of Libya," said Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Nato secretary general.

"We will sustain our efforts to fulfil the United Nations mandate" to defend civilians from Gaddafi's forces, he said in a statement, adding: "We will keep up the pressure to see it through."

Nato, whose current campaign expires on June 27, has intensified its air raids in recent weeks with daily strikes on command and control bunkers in Tripoli to prevent Gaddafi from crushing a revolt that began in mid-February.

Wednesday's decision would give individual nations time to prepare their contributions for the next 90 days, a Nato diplomat said.


"There were very positive signs that nations will extend with the appropriate number of resources," the diplomat said.

The Libyan government said on Tuesday that the air war has so far cost the lives of 718 civilians and wounded more than 4,000.

"Since March 19, and up to May 26, there have been 718 martyrs among civilians and 4,067 wounded – 433 of them seriously," government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said, citing health ministry numbers which cannot be independently verified,

Mr Ibrahim said these figures do not include Libyan military casualties, a toll the defence ministry refuses to divulge.

Nato cast doubt on the Libyan claim.

"We have no indications that that is the case," Nato deputy spokesman Carmen Romero said, adding the alliance has no way to verify the claims because it does not have troops on the ground.

"Nato is conducting its operations to implement the UN mandate to protect civilians with great care and precision," she said. "This is in clear contrast with the indiscriminate attacks of the Kadhafi regime on his own people."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/liby...