Nato talks fail to produce Libya agreement

Britain and France failed to win a commitment from Nato allies today to send more ground attack aircraft to Libya, amid calls from the rebels for the alliance to step up air strikes on Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's forces.

Nato foreign ministers, meeting in Berlin, ended two days of talks without agreement on calls by London and Paris to intensify the military action against the regime.

The alliance's Secretary-General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, told a closing news conference that the discussions on the deployment of additional warplanes would continue.

"We have got indications that nations will deliver what is needed on this," he said. "So I am hopeful that we will get the necessary assets in the very near future."

Foreign Secretary William Hague confirmed that discussions on the deployment of more strike aircraft were continuing and insisted that the resolution of the international alliance ranged against Col Gaddafi remained firm.

"Given that it is such a broad range of nations, actually the extent of the unity and resolve and the agreement on our objectives is remarkable," he told the BBC.

However, there were signs that some Nato members were unhappy with the direction in which Britain and France were taking the campaign.

Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal - whose country's aircraft are helping to enforce the international no-fly zone - said he did not believe that existing United Nations resolutions authorised air strikes.

"This question actually goes beyond Security Council Resolution 1973," he told BBC Radio 4's The World At One. "For the Dutch government, it is of the utmost importance to fully respect the framework of the resolution."

The Ministry of Defence said RAF Tornado GR4 and Typhoon fighter aircraft yesterday hit a missile transporter, a heavy equipment transporter and a munitions store in the area of the besieged city of Misrata.

A tank and an armoured vehicle were also hit by RAF aircraft south of the capital Tripoli.

Mr Hague said Nato remained "desperately concerned" about the situation in Misrata, amid reports of mounting civilian casualties inflicted by Gaddafi's forces.

However he stressed that in mounting air strikes in defence of the population, the alliance had to ensure that it did not hit civilians.

"Nato is doing everything it can about that but remember Nato itself is trying to avoid civilian casualties," he said.

"Given that this conflict in Misrata is at such close quarters and the Gaddafi regime forces don't care about civilian casualties, we have to take great care over that and that does constrain us."

Mr Rasmussen, meanwhile, strongly backed a joint newspaper article by David Cameron, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy warning it would be an "unconscionable betrayal" if Gaddafi was allowed to remain in power.

He said that it reflected the "unity of purpose and the determination" of the Nato allies.

"Nato is absolutely determined to continue its operation for as long as there is a threat against Libyan civilians. It is impossible to imagine that threat will disappear with Gaddafi in power." 

curtsy-The Indipendent